Azure Blade Works
by C.O.Y.L
Summary: Having cut off his arm to save the world, Shirou watched as his arm was dragged into the hole made by the Grail along with Gilgamesh. In another world, Ragna lay in Rachel's arms, his own arm cut-off by Terumi. But when a hole suddenly opens and spits out an arm wrapped in chains, what else was there to do but attach it? He did need an arm to house the Azure after all.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

 **Well, here it is, the Azure Blade Works. What is this Fic? Read it and find out.**

 **Also, I'm pondering whether or not this is good for Beast's lair, since the very basis of this fic doesn't involve any of the main Nasuverse characters and it's not even in the same world. Only one part of the thing is still part of the Nasuverse, and that part isn't even that big. I'll ponder on this some more, before I decide to go ahead and just post it or not.**

 **XxX**

The chains wrapped around his arm like a snake. They gripped onto him so hard that he felt his bones break under the sheer tightness of the wrapping.

"Gah!" He couldn't help but shout in alarm as he was pulled forward slightly, towards the black hole left by the Holy Grail. He pushed his legs downward, trying to balance himself and prevent himself from getting dragged into the hole by whatever it was that was hooked on the other end of the chain. He could feel his feet shaking, his body bending towards the hole as he tried to resist the pull, and he could feel _someone_ trying to pull themself out using the chains that were wrapped around his hands.

"That fool!" The arrogant and familiar voice began. "Does it not know it cannot use another Servant as its core?!" He heard the Golden King's voice shout as his face reappeared through the blackness of the hole. He could see the king's desperate face, so he could only come to one conclusion.

"Are you trying to take me down with you?!" He shouted as he felt himself take off slightly, he pushed his body down. Trying to prevent himself from getting thrown into the hole with the frantic King.

The king's response wasn't what he was expecting. "You fool! Why would I choose death?!" Gilgamesh shouted as he kept pulling, his body steadily showing as inch by inch he started to escape the hole. "Keep yourself there mongrel! I shall pull myself away from this!"

He was so surprised by his declaration, that he let down his guard, only slightly, but it was enough to inch him towards the hole even more. This act caused the chains to strain, making Gilgamesh sink into the hole as he approached it.

"Mongrel!" Gilgamesh shouted, his voice holding a little bit of desperation. "Are you so enamored that you cannot keep your head straight?! Do not move! That is an order from the King!" Again Gilgamesh started pulling himself, and again his body started inching closer to the hole, closer to the king that was steadily pulling himself out of it.

He grit his teeth before he stomped on the floor. "Like hell I'll let you out of there!" There was no way, if he escaped, that would mean he would continue his fantastical idea of killing off humanity! He couldn't let that happen, he wouldn't let that happen. "Trace On!"

Pulling deep into his reserves, he managed a last Projection. It was an image of Bakuya, hastily and only partially Traced. The image flickered in his mind, but he made sure to keep it tethered in the real world for as long as possible.

He felt the weight in his left hand, and he raised it above his head, this would do just fine, he only needed to throw it down and he'd be done with it. "I'd rather cut off my arm than let you live!"

He didn't let the king respond, he didn't even think. He felt his left arm come down, and then he lost all feeling from his right arm. He caught sight of his arm detaching in a spurt of blood as the Bakuya image slashed through muscles and bones. He saw his arm get cut, inch by inch it started to detach.

And then the pain caught up to him, and he screamed.

"Gah!" He shouted as blood spurt from the stump that was his right arm. He dropped to his butt and watched as Gilgamesh got dragged into the hole left by the Grail, his own arm trailing right behind the king.

And when the winds died down, when the hole was gone, he allowed himself a sigh before he fell on his back. He felt his breathing hitch, his body was numb, and his head was aching. And though the stump that was his right arm was bleeding and giving him pain, he still felt himself smile.

He had done it, he had saved the world.

Those were his last thoughts as he drifted off into darkness, he wasn't afraid of dying, but he wouldn't die there. He still had so much left to do, with Rin, with Saber, Sakura, Fuji-nee. He wouldn't die. He wouldn't die. He wouldn't… die.

"Shirou!" He heard Saber's voice as he drifted off into sleep. He could have sworn he heard Rin's voice right after, but everything else was a blur… He needed rest… he just… saved the world after all…

 **Azure Blade Works**

 **XxX**

 **In another world, In another time, a similar battle was taking place**

 **But instead of a battle to save the world, this was a battle to save, or destroy, a life**

 **Two brothers fought, one estranged and manic as he tries to kill his brother**

 **The other, desperate to save everything that has ever helped him and his family survive**

 **This is a battle without anyone winning, a single event in the infinite number of timelines, but nonetheless, the single turning point that will define the world**

"Gah!" He felt numbness as he was kicked square in the chest. But he didn't fall, he couldn't fall, not with Jin like this. He couldn't let his little brother kill their sister! He wouldn't allow that to happen! "Jin snap out of it!" He shouted as he clutched his chest. That kick hurt like hell! He didn't even know Jin had that kind of strength!

"Why?" The voice that was like Jin's but wasn't Jin's asked. "Why should I brother? This is so much fun!" To emphasize his point, Jin stepped forward and slashed at him, the sword in his hands singing through the air as it sought to behead him.

He rolled to the side, barely avoiding getting his head cut off. As it stood though, he felt a few strands of his blonde hair fly off as the sword narrowly missed his forehead.

As he rolled on the ground, he quickly looked around, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. He found one in the form of a fallen wooden beam. Quickly, he righted himself before he dove for the beam, it was larger than his arm, and weighed him down some, but at least he had something he could actually use.

He turned around, prepared to use the beam as a means to defend himself and probably knock Jin out. He barely had time to think before the beam suddenly split in two in a shower of splinters. He shouted in pain as some of the splinters went into his right eye. Blinded for a second, he didn't react as his chest was suddenly slashed, letting out a large spurt of blood as he staggered back in pain.

"You don't know me anymore _brother_." He heard Jin's voice as he staggered back. He tripped over something, he didn't know what, before he landed on his behind as he clutched his chest and right eye. Damn, damn, damn, damn! Why the fuck was this happening damn it!

"You've neglected me for so long, I wanted to show you what I could do, what kind of power I had." Jin's voice was turning more manic every second, he cursed as he forced his right eye to open, to stare at Jin. What he saw on his little brother's face could only be described as mania, as hysteria, and everything in between.

"Now though," Jin continued as he took a step forward towards him, he crawled backwards, gritting his teeth as he did so. His eyes momentarily flashed towards the katana in Jin's hand, and he couldn't help but curse the damn thing. The moment Jin got a hold of it, he turned batshit crazy. "Now I can show you just how much you've missed my growth!" Jin finished as he raised the katana to slash at him.

He couldn't move, he just stood there and stared, unable to do anything. But as Jin's sword flashed down towards him, a voice cut in, sounding even more manic than Jin's.

"Oi, Kisaragi. You done yet?" They both turned towards the voice. It came from behind Jin. What he saw made his blood run cold and his mind stop functioning.

A man with neon green hair in a black suit was standing while tapping his foot impatiently on the ground, his eyes were slits, but he could see they held back something sinister. His mouth was curled downwards as he stared at them both. "We gotta get going you see. Can't let her spoil, she's important cargo after all."

All these things about the man with the green hair were secondary. The man's hidden power, his slitted eyes, and even his tone of voice. They were all secondary, as he saw someone in the man's arms, someone he was trying to protect.

"Saya!" In a feat of strength he didn't even know he had anymore, he stood and rushed towards the man. Barreling past Jin, past the fallen form of the sister that had taken care of all three of them, and towards the man with green hair who only stared at him with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

He reached the man in just five seconds. Five seconds to cross twenty five feet. It was a feat he didn't even know he could do; he was fast sure, but never this fast. Maybe it was the adrenaline in his body, or maybe it was his inner need to see his sister safe. But whatever it was, it empowered him, empowered him so much that it pushed his bleeding and battered body, allowing him to ignore the pain he felt, allowing him to reopen his right eye that was already half-blind, allowing him to run towards his sister and try to save her.

It took him five seconds to get there. But it only took the man one to slice his right arm and send it flying with a knife.

Time seemed to slow as he saw his right arm fly off, somewhere over his head and towards the debris around him. He saw the knife that the man had used was silver and had the grip of a snake. He saw the man's absolutely manic expression, a smile turning into a sadistic grin as he locked eyes with him, a sight he would never forget. Finally, time caught up, and he was sent tumbling forward, all the while screaming bloody murder as he felt the pain that accompanied getting his hand cut off.

"GUAH!" He shouted in pain, rolling forward and into the ground. He couldn't think straight, he could only focus on the pain. He couldn't even register what the man was saying to Jin. He could only feel the pain in his right stump of an arm.

But he did hear something, one thing, through the pain of losing his arm, and the anger of losing Jin, Saya, and the person that helped all three of them. He heard one thing even through all his screaming and writhing.

"The name's Terumi kid, I'll be taking care of you from now on." Those were the last words he heard before the pain overtook him and sent him into unconsciousness. Terumi… those words were probably directed at Jin. He would remember that name; he wouldn't ever forgive the man for what he did.

 **XxX**

Rachel Alucard was an immortal vampire, one that had seen carnage and destruction. In all her immortal life, she had borne witness to humans killing, raping, and stealing from each other. So it should be expected that an immortal being such as her, who had lived for a millennium past, be jaded about such things.

That was not the case.

She was an immortal being, of that there is no doubt. But she would never get used to seeing chaos. Because from the word itself – chaos – it means to be unpredictable, to be unsettling, that was the very definition of chaos. Anyone that would say that chaos is predictable, that chaos can be controlled would be fools. Even after a millennium of living, she was still not used to chaos, to seeing what happens when it does happen.

So it was with sad eyes as she surveyed the latest chaotic event that had happened in front of her. She wasn't here when it started, true. But from the fallen beams and the still burning church she could ascertain that she was too late to do anything to help.

Well, almost too late.

She looked down at the boy that would turn into the most interesting man she would ever know (though she would deny this if anyone ever asked her). She would never get used to this sight, seeing him broken down and bleeding, his breathing ragged and his body bleeding out. This man was supposed to be uncouth and strong, a barbarian, and not some whimpering little kid that looked ready to die at anytime.

Tentatively, she sighed, seeing him without an arm reminded her of what she had to do. And though she was loath to do it, there wasn't anything else that could possibly help the man.

"Look at you, whimpering and writhing in your sleep. Pathetic." She was a cruel being, she knew this, and she wasn't ashamed to admit it. But she was not heartless; she already knew what she would be doing here, and why she would be doing it. For all the man's faults, he was the best chance to save the world, the most interesting man she had ever met, and quite possibly the most uncouth barbarian she had ever come to know. And that was all the more reason she knelt down and raised the boy's head and placed it on her lap.

Her hands began stroking the messy mane of blonde hair. She didn't like the color; she much preferred it when his hair was white. There was something oddly right with seeing him with white hair, she couldn't explain why.

Her stroking brought a reaction from the boy, as he whimpered. _Whimpered_ as her hands brushed against his hair. If he was a bit older and a little less broken, she would have slapped him and told him to never make such a pathetic sound when in he was in her presence. As it stood though, she could only sigh as her hands continued to run through his hair.

"Regrettably, this is the one thing I cannot ever stop." Timelines were messy things, and she much preferred to just sit back and watch, but she knew that this was not her fate. Everything was set in stone already, and it was her job to see it fall and let it cause ripples in the lake that is time.

She stopped stroking the boy's hair, an act that was almost regrettable, before she bent down to his neck and pierced it with her teeth.

She didn't suck, that would cause her bloodlust to take over. But she did transfer just enough of her vampiric qualities into the boy so that he would survive. With that said though, even though it was night, and even though vampiric powers helped a lot to soothe and heal wounds, he still needed an arm.

"Looks like I got here a little too late." She recognized the voice, and though the voice was gruff, it held a slighty disappointed tone in it.

"It wouldn't have mattered if you got here at all." A lie of course. She needed him here, but she would never admit that.

She heard him sigh behind her, before she heard his footsteps coming closer. "Never thought I'd see the day…" He whispered as he stopped right next to her. She shared that sentiment with him, seeing someone as strong as the man in her lap look so weak and frail was something she didn't like seeing.

"That makes the both of us." She added primly, before a dainty sigh escaped her lips. "Do you have it?" A formality at this point, of course he would have. Unless this was a timeline where he _didn't_ have it, then that would make everything moot.

"'Course I do, what d'ya take me fer?" He held out a black object. Rectangular and unassuming save for its pitch blackness. She knew what it was inside of the box, and at the same time, she didn't. The Azure Grimiore wasn't something that was understandable. Much like chaos, she mused to herself.

She took the box with a grateful nod of her head, before she looked down on the boy's face. She noted that his hair was already turning white, thanks to the vampiric blood that was now flowing through his veins. She couldn't help but smile a small smile, he really did look better with hair like that.

"You sure about this though?" The person right next to her asked. She let out a small huff. The very idea she wasn't sure was insulting.

"Of course I am." Why wouldn't she be? "It's to save his life." She sounded sure, but she knew that was a bluff, she knew what would await him if she continued.

"Or damn him to an even crappier one." Her companion muttered under his breath, but she heard him just fine.

She turned towards him, leveling him with a cold look, before she asked. "And what would you have me do then? Leave him to die?" True the man was a barbarian, but she wasn't so shallow as to leave him to die if she could help it. If it was any other man, she would have already turned a blind eye, but this wasn't just any other man. This was…

She shook her head to clear her head. Now was not the time to be thinking such strange thoughts. She opened the box, and immediately the area around all three of them was buffeted by a strong gust of wind. She could detect trace amounts of seithr, but she left it open regardless. It wasn't enough to be poisonous, at least, not yet.

"You got a catalyst for that thing?" Her companion asked, and she couldn't quite reign in her apprehension as she answered.

"Yes," She confirmed, before she reached for a pocket dimension and pulled out a prosthetic limb. "Hopefully this shall suffice for the time being."

"Are you- The hell are you thinking?!" Predictably, the person right next to her reacted violently. "Ya can't just stick the Azure Grimoire into a piece of prosthetic!"

She felt her lips curl into a thin grimace. She already knew the risks of what she was doing. But this was the only way she could think of. She turned towards him, and asked. "Unless you have something else that I can use as a catalyst, I suggest you keep your mouth closed. I'm about to attempt something extremely dangerous." This really was no joke. She needed silence. Fusing the Azure Grimoire with a piece of magical prosthetic was something she was nervous even thinking about. True, the prosthetic she was using was much more durable than any other piece of plastic, and was personally created by her, but that didn't mean it could contain the vast power that was the Azure Grimoire. To graft something as powerful as that to something that could be amounted to nothing more than hardened plastic was so far out, so crazy, that she wouldn't have entertained the notion if it weren't for the fact that it was their only choice.

If she was being completely honest, she would have much preferred if they had something biological, something human to graft the Azure into. Too bad having a right arm fall from the sky and into their laps was so statically impossible, that it would need a miracle to have it happen.

So she was utterly and completely taken by surprise as the seithr started to coalesce into a single area in front of them, before she felt wind start coming _out_ of the vortex that was happening.

"What in the world?!" Her companion shouted in alarm, the sound of a sword unsheathing and getting stabbed in the ground echoed as the exploding wind buffeted them.

She found herself struggling against the incoming wind, holding onto the child as she tried to stand firm. She couldn't hold it for long though, she left her pets back in her home, so she was steadily getting forced onto her feet, and pretty soon she would be sent careening away with the boy in her arms.

Thankfully, before that could happen, the winds died. As abruptly as it started, it suddenly died and the portal seemed to shrink upon itself, taking with it the seithr around them. She let out a small breath, perhaps it was just a hiccup? The Azure Grimoire was temperamental at best, and borderline explosive at worst. Maybe they got lucky, whatever happened was something random and startling, but was just that, random and startling.

She was about to turn back towards the boy in her lap, before the sound of something heavy and wet slapped right in front of her. She looked up, and was… shocked? Surprised? Whatever she was feeling, it was because of the naked arm now sitting just a few feet in front of her.

The arm was one thing, but there was another thing that caught her attention, and that was the chain attached to the arm. It was unassuming, save for the pointed knife that was attached to the arm and the chains that were gripping it. With that said however, she noticed that the arm was now steadily getting pulled back into the closing vortex.

She was about to react, but her companion was faster, showing her just how much of a quick thinker he really was. He had jumped towards the arm, forgoing the sword he had stabbed into the ground, before he grabbed the end of the arm and started pulling. "Oh no ya don't!" The cat person shouted as he pulled hard.

She knew Jubei was strong, she had personally borne witness to him carrying a bus before, and though it sounded impossible, she knew he was much, _much_ stronger than that. Extremely so. So it surprised her to see him suddenly lurch forward as if something pulled back against the arm that had the chains around it.

"I'm not lookin' a horse gift in the mouth damn it!" Jubei shouted as he pulled out another sword and tried to cut the chain in half. With a loud clang, the sword bounced off the chain and made Jubei recoil, sending the arm and now Jubei closer to the vortex. Jubei cursed, before he stabbed the sword into the ground much like he had before with his first one. He used it as an anchor and pulled himself towards it, arm in hand. She looked towards the vortex, and saw that it was still closing. So she moved.

Temporarily foregoing the boy in her lap, she leapt forward and strode her way towards Jubei and the arm. When she was next to the cat person, she reached for a part of the arm that Jubei wasn't holding, and pulled with him.

"Just a little longer." She commented as she watched the closing portal. If they could just hold out, just a few more second, then the chain would-

Her thought process stopped as a hand suddenly erupted from the vortex. It was only for a brief moment, before the vortex collapsed in itself and suddenly closed with a loud bang, but she recognized a hand when she saw one. She didn't know who that hand belonged to, but whatever it was, she felt relieved that they had managed to stop it from coming out.

As the hole closed in on itself, the chain immediately gave way, getting split in two as it erupted in sparks. The sudden lax of the chain sent both her and Jubei sprawling backwards, chain still attached to the detached arm in their hands.

When they finally got their bearings, she floated herself up and dusted herself. That was entirely inappropriate for her, and utterly disgraceful. She shall do her best to keep that memory locked away, especially to Rag-

"Hehe." She turned her head as she heard Jubei chuckle. "Hehehe." He chuckled again, this time, sounding even more amused. Soon enough, his chuckling turned into full blown laughter, full of mirth and happiness.

She didn't like it.

"Just what exactly is so funny?" She asked, her voice purposeful and demanding. Jubei for his part, only continued his laughing.

It wasn't until a few seconds later, when Jubei had calmed himself down somewhat, did he answer. "J-just thinking about the chances of this happenin'." He commented happily as he stared at the arm he held in his hands. She followed his gaze, and immediately noticed just what Jubei was referring to.

The arm itself looked picturesque, almost perfect. True it looked mangled and probably had broken bones and cut nerves, but it wasn't something an experienced Ars Magus healer couldn't fix. Yes, this was most likely a one in a million billions chance of happening.

She couldn't help it, she felt a smile tug on her own lips. She didn't believe in god, nor in any deity for that matter. But whatever this was, it certainly really was a miracle. They had found their catalyst.

 **XxX**

 **There's the prologue. Go nuts on the reviews. Tell me what you liked about it and what you disliked, review it as critically as you want. I'm just aiming to improve myself even more with my writing.**

 **With that said, hopefully everyone stayed in character here. I honestly have no idea if Jubei has two or three swords. The pictures say two, but the games say three. How many are there really? And don't be afraid telling me what I've got wrong, though if we have two conflicting ideas, don't be surprised to find me striking up a conversation to ask where and how you got that information. This is basically why I'm so exasperated with people reviewing my other stories saying that the 'wiki says this' or 'the wiki states that'. The wiki was made by fans of the series, that means they are not objective in their work on the wiki, but subjective. I try and be objective with my dealings in writing, and don't allow prior judgment to cloud what I _know_ is right.**

 **I've also taken liberties on what happened during and after the fight with Terumi and Jin. I know for a fact that Terumi was the one that cutoff Ragna's arm. And Rachel had healed Ragna. Though to what extent she healed him, I don't know. I only know that in the original timeline, Ragna was healed by Rachel, and got the Azure Grimoire because he touched something he shouldn't have. I've taken liberties here and just went with Jubei having the Azure and actually arriving the same time as Rachel did.**

 **This will also mark the first, last, and only appearance Shirou will have in this story. Well, save for his right arm. That said, flashbacks aren't off the hook, and we'll be witnessing what Shirou's arm will do to Ragna and his own training.**

 **That said, Shirou's perfectly fine. He won't go dying from losing an arm. Getting another one is probably fine with Rin anyway. And since they'll be going to the Clock Tower soon, Shirou really has nothing else to worry about… Well, save for having Saber there and risking another arm growing thanks to Avalon… does it work that way? Oh, and probably explaining to Sakura, Fujimura, and the rest of the school how he lost an arm. Heh, that'd actually be pretty funny to write about. Might make an omake or a oneshot about Shirou actually losing his arm and having to explain it to everyone else, before he** _ **magically**_ **gets another one and having to explain how he did that. Gas leaks, yeah, that's right. You were all hallucinating under the gas leaks, I never lost my arm!**

 **Anyway, I'm out. C.O.Y.L signing out, peace!**


	2. Waking Up

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **I'm back. And I've done some thinking. Recently, I've been rewatching some old Adventure Time episodes. You know, even if I'm legally considered an adult and is supposed to have outgrown cartoons, I can't stop watching this show.**

 **And then I remembered, I had an Adventure Time fic. Well, not that I forgot, I just chose to ignore it in favor of my other works. Anyway, I decided to take a look at it, and what I saw made me cringe, as well as smile.**

 **Cringe, because I sucked as a writer back then (I still suck mind you, but damn, that was a whole other level of sucking), and smile, because I remembered how I started. I enjoyed writing. So that's what I'm doing with this story, and all my other stories. So for my sake, I've decided to rewrite that. It won't come up too soon mind you, but in the meanwhile, I encourage you people to read that first story. I don't always tell people to read my stories, but honestly, take a look at it if you have the time and like Adventure Time. I'm not embarrassed about it, and I sure as hell am not ashamed by it. Whether or not you're a fan of me, I can guarantee that you'll find something to nitpick about that story.**

 **So take it apart, bash it, insult it, love it, like it, or ignore it. But honestly, that's where I started. That's where I began, where I learned to love my writing, even if it's crappy and absolute shit. I've grown as a writer; at least, I think I have. But it never hurts to look back at what I've made. All great artists know that their earlier works are never** _ **good**_ **enough. But they know that this was good enough for them at the time, and that they could improve over time.**

 **With that said, I have to honestly ask. Do I try too hard when I write? Cause to me, I just write whatever comes naturally. Think of it as a sixth sense or whatever, call it wrong or not, but that's just naturally what I write. But don't mistake that for just writing what comes to mind. I go through a process as well after I finish a chapter. I read it, and reread it over and over again while looking for grammar typos and seeing what fits and what doesn't in my stories. Admittedly, I sometimes don't do a good enough job for it. But in the end, I post stuff that I'm satisfied with, that most people will like. Some don't, and I appreciate them being truthful about my story. But I need to know what you guys honestly think of my stories, don't just say they're all good. Or that don't worry about it. As a writer that actually wants to get into professional writing (fat chance), I need to know your honest opinions. Sure your positive reviews are encouraging, but I need something that will make me think, that will make me see what I'm doing wrong. I can take it, though once again, I'll defend my point of view if I feel like it. I just want reviews that honestly tell me what they think and don't just offer encouraging words, those things are poison to a writer.**

 **Aside from that, this is rated T for a reason people. Ragna's profanity is one of them. Also, Rachel is literally immortal here. She really** _ **can't**_ **die. One of the villains in Blazblue (who I won't reveal cause spoilers) was concerned about Rachel and her immortality and power, that they designed a specific prison for her that will trap her for all eternity. Yeah, the Blazblue universe has people that will make the ORT their bitch if they want to. That said, only** _ **really**_ **high tier Blazblue characters can do that. Most of which are time-warpers** _ **and**_ **reality benders.**

 **And with that wall of bold text out of the way. On with the show!**

 **XxX**

"Argh…" He muttered as he sat up. Damn, he had a splitting headache, whatever it was that hit him, it hit him _hard_.

"My head," He moaned as he raised his right arm to clutch it. Damn it, now it was throbbing. He needed an aspri- wait, right hand? "What the-"

He began as he pulled his right hand away from his head. There, he saw it, an arm. _His_ arm. "What the fuck?" Was all he managed to say as he stared at it. Didn't it get slashed off by that knife? Why the hell was it still there?

He then looked around him, and discovered something even more bizarre. "Where the..." He began as he looked around him. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but barren land and cloudy twilight skies. How the heck had he gotten here?

He stood up, forgoing dusting his pants as he stared at the yellow ground around him. Well, wherever he was, it was a wasteland. There was nothing but empty space around here. Nothing could be used as a landmark. Damn it, did that guy reattach his arm, before deciding he would have some fun with him by leaving him here? He didn't even know where _here_ was! Did he want him to suffer?!

"Damn it Terumi you bastard." He muttered as stared at his right arm. Surprisingly, it felt right. Well, at least he had it. That meant his chances for survival were double now that he had both his arms. Not that having both would make a difference though. He didn't know where he was, and he didn't have any food or water or even any kind of weapon. It was simple math here, zero chances of survival times two still equals zero.

He was still very much fucked.

"At least leave me a weapon like your knife you bastard." He muttered under his breath as he sat back down. Saya always told him he was too impulsive sometimes, that he didn't things through. And he learned that she was right the hard way when he ran towards her and Terumi and got his right arm severed.

"That was one sharp knife though." He remembered the knife, that weird balisong knife he had that sliced through muscle and sinew. He remembered what it looked like, and what it felt like when it was slicing through his arm. He could use a weapon like that, there's no telling what sort of danger's he'll come acros-

Shing!

He scrambled back as a knife literally fell out of the sky and landed in front of him. "What the fuck was that!?" He shouted as he stood and looked upwards. That could have killed him damn it! Was he still here? Was he playing with him?!

He carefully scanned the sky and the area around him, not that it took much effort since everything was clearly visible in the wasteland. Finding nothing, he relaxed a bit, before he went over to the knife that fell from the sky.

He saw it glimmer for a second, before he recognized it a split-second later.

"Is that his knife?" He asked out loud as he walked over towards the knife and picked it up. He rotated it in his hands, taking in the craftsmanship and make of the weapon, before he raised it to his face with confusion.

Yeah, there was no mistaking it. This was his knife. What the hell was his knife doing here? No, a better question would be, why the hell did it fall from the sky?

He looked up again, trying to discern if he missed anything out of the ordinary. After a few seconds of just staring at the sky, he gave up and looked down towards the knife in his hands. Well, he needed a weapon, now he got one. Still, why the hell was this here?

Suddenly, a flood of memories surged into his mind. And as soon as the memories stopped flooding, he dropped the knife and immediately hunched over and heaved. Fuck! What the hell was that messed up shit?!

He heaved, but nothing came out. No food, only air and saliva. As each memory came into his mind, his heaving continued. One memory had a decapitated corpse, mutilated and bleeding as the body was eaten by the sithr, another memory had him seeing someone prostrate themselves, before having a knife shoved into their face and twisting it, sending blood and grey matter flying everywhere.

As each disturbing memory came into his mind, he tried to focus. He knew that the knife that he had held was in the memories; the balisong knife was the prominent item aside from the people getting killed and mutilated.

He also knew these images were memories and not just delusions. The scenes were too vivid, the faces too real. There was no way in hell these things were an illusion. He wasn't so messed up he'd dream up of these things on a bad day.

Finally, the last of memories stopped, and he recognized it for what it was. A memory of him, getting his arm sliced and being left for dead on the ground. A memory, not of Terumi's, but of the knife's.

He straightened himself, as he looked down at the knife. He himself reacting to it, wanting to just grab it and chuck it far away. However, instead of doing that, he bent down and picked it up.

"I don't like it, but this is my only means of self-defense here." He paused as he looked around. "...wherever here is." He muttered as he pocketed the knife. He didn't like it, really he didn't. But if it was between using a tool that was used to kill people or getting himself killed, then the former was the only way to go. He'd save Saya first, before he'd drop dead.

"Now," He began as he looked around for the umpteenth time. "Where the hell do I go?" He looked up at the sky, and saw nothing but clouds with a twilight sky. No sun. Well, there goes using the sun as a compass.

"Damn it. Whatever." He turned right, and stared out into the wasteland, before he started walking. He couldn't use anything to help him get out of this wasteland, so he'll think while he walked. Hopefully, he'll find something that'll get him out of here.

He hadn't even taken ten steps, before he saw something in the distance. It was erect, and seemed to be stabbed into the ground. He squinted his eyes, and saw in detail what looked like a sword. A katana. It looked familiar, like he had seen it before… wait, that looked like the sword that Jin-!

Before he could finish his thoughts, something _pulled_ him. He felt the world shift around him; he saw the wasteland get left behind as he was pulled backwards, before he felt his vision blackening, his consciousness fading as the wasteland disappeared and was replaced by the darkness.

 **Azure Blade Works**

 **XxX**

"Guah!" He sat up straight, his body having thrown itself forward as he suddenly stopped falling.

Wait, he had been falling? But he was on a bed? Was he dreaming?

He grabbed his head and shook it. Damn it, whatever that dream was, it was trippy as hell. He hadn't felt like this ever since Saya started getting sick and he started getting _worried_ sick.

"Well, looks like you're okay if you can shake your head like that." A voice, right next to his ear. He hastily looked to the side, trying to spot who it was that spoke out to him.

He saw a woman, well, a beastkin woman. She had a rather casual lab coat on that exposed her midriff. She had pink hair that did nothing to hide the two pink cat ears protruding from the top of her head, and also two pink tails that were wrapped around her waist like a belt.

He narrowed his eyes warningly. "Who the hell are you?" He turned his body towards her, not only to make him look bigger, but also to have easy access to the floor and the door behind her if she ever lunged for him.

In response to his body movement and words, the beastkin woman only laughed derisively. "Kid, you're gonna have to try harder than turning your body towards me to intimidate me. I know someone that's nine feet tall, and has a body that would put a brick wall to shame." The woman then smirked, her face full of confidence and assurance. "Besides, you're in no state to go dodging any of my attacks if I ever felt like eviscerating you."

He swallowed nervously. She wasn't kidding, he could tell. She could do those things, and she wasn't at all fazed by him. He could try and make a break for it, but the only exit happened to be the door right behind her. There was a window by the bed he was in, but he doubted he could turn and open the window before she was upon him.

So instead of doing anything rash, like jump out the window or make a break for it, he sighed and plopped himself down on the bed. Well, since he wasn't dead yet, that at least meant one thing. "You're not going to kill me." He tried hard not to make it sound like a question.

The woman nodded her head at him. "That's right; you catch on pretty fast kid." Her tone was sarcastic, and he could detect a hint of amusement in it.

He growled at her. "Then were you the one that saved me?" He asked; reigning in his voice before it turned into a shout/question. He didn't want to piss this woman off, at least, not until he got answers.

In response to his question, the woman laughed, full of mirth and sounding completely mocking. "Hah! Now that's rich." The woman let loose a long breath, before she calmed herself and pulled out something from her pocket. At first he thought it was a cigarette, but as the small white rod was pulled out, he saw that it was a lollipop. A pink one, likely strawberry flavor.

The woman popped it into her mouth, before she moved it around a bit and let it settle by the insides of her cheeks. "Like I'd have any interest in a kid as uninteresting and dull as you. I've studied enough about vampirism thank you, and I've got nothing more to add to that branch and have moved on." Vampirism? What the fuck was she talking about?

Apparently sensing his confusion, the woman smirked, before she stood and walked over towards the desk right to the other side of the room. She pulled open one drawer, before she pulled out a hand mirror and started walking towards him, not even bothering with closing the desk.

"Here kid," The woman tossed him the mirror as she got near. He almost let it slip through his fingers, before he managed to grab it tightly. He looked up and glared at the woman, who only shrugged her shoulders listlessly. He let his glare drop, before he turned the hand mirror to its reflective side and raised it to his face.

He almost dropped the mirror from the sheer surprise. As it stood though, he sat straight up and stared at his reflection.

"What the fuck?!" Was his eloquent question as he stared at his face. It still had the same facial features, the same length of eyebrows, the teeth and nose, almost everything was the same as it had always been. The only two differences were that his right eye, which had previously been as green as his left, was now blood red, and his eyebrows, which were very much the same length as before, was now sheet white.

He looked up some more, and saw that his eyebrows weren't the only thing that was white. His previously blonde hair was now as white as his eyebrows, and was just as messy as his previously blonde version of it.

"What the fuck!" He repeated, this time as a curse as he examined his face. "What the hell happened to my hair?! My eyes?!" He didn't drop the mirror, as he was still too busy examining his new features, but his question was addressed to the woman that was staring at him bemusedly.

"Side effect." Was the woman's short reply. He let the mirror drop to the side of the bed, before he leveled a glare at the woman. Fuck her being stronger, he wanted answers!

But before he could question the woman, who was now sporting a smirk as she sucked on the lollipop still in her mouth, another voice called out, this one old and male. "Oi Kokonoe." The door jingled a little, before it was opened from the outside as a small figure walked in. "I heard shoutin' the kid awake yet?"

He saw a… cat, probably three to four feet tall, walking on his hind legs with two swords strapped to his back and a tail that was just as tall as he was. His orange jacket had two recesses on the top, probably to accommodate the cat ears that were probably hiding under there.

He stared at the cat, before the cat spoke. "Well, guess he is."

He blinked once, before he continued to stare at the cat. He then turned towards the pink-haired woman – now identified as Kokonoe – and asked. "Is that a talking cat?" He had seen beastmen before, they had come and gone through the church and had prayed there or sometimes talked with the sister, some even played with them. But he had never seen a talking cat. Beastmen had properties that made them look slightly human, they had more skin then fur, and sometimes one would have trouble trying to figure out what the differences are between a man and a beastman.

The cat standing right in front of him was definitely not a beastman, nor was he a human. Too much fur, his legs were backward jointed, and though he had a tail and ears of a beastman, they were definitely more pronounced.

In response to his question, Kokonoe only smirked, before she removed her lollipop and pointed it at the cat. "That is Jubei. One of the six legendary heroes that helped stopped the black beast all those years ago." Kokonoe explained, before she shrugged and put her lollipop back into her mouth. "Not much to look at, I know. But the sooner you see what he really is, the better. He's a little too hyped for what he really is."

He frowned. "I don't care if he's my long lost grandma. I asked if he was a talking cat, not his life story damn it. I don't give two shits if he's one of the legendary heroes." Really, was it so hard to answer that question?

He suddenly heard laughter, and turned towards the cat – Jubei – and saw him hunched over and laughing.

His frown deepened. "What's so funny?" He asked, accusingly as he stared at the cat.

Jubei recovered some semblance of normality, and straightened himself, before he wiped a tear from his eyes. Damn it, whatever it was, it wasn't that funny. "Nothin' really." Jubei began before he took a breath and let out a small sigh before he turned towards Kokonoe. "That's the first time I saw someone shoot down your praise about me Kokonoe. Yer loosing yer charisma."

He heard a snort and turned towards Kokonoe. "If I had a knife to his throat or a bomb in his arm with the button in my hands, he'd agree with me."

He felt a little put-off by that. "Lady, you've got control problems." He spoke frankly and truthfully. Damn, she'd be a husband's nightmare if she'd do all that just to agree with her.

In response to his words, Kokonoe turned towards him and leveled him a glare. "Kid, did you forget that I could take your head off before you could even blink?" She asked, rhetorically if her tone was any indication. He didn't respond beyond giving her a shrug. If she wanted to, she would have already. Nothing wrong with pushing her buttons… yet.

He heard another bark of laughter, and turned towards Jubei. "Ha! This kid's a little twerp ain't he?" His words said insult, but his tone of voice said compliment.

He heard Kokonoe snort again, before he heard her standing and begin walking. "Whatever." She said as she came into his line of vision. She walked past Jubei, and went towards the door. She stopped right in front of it, and then turned around. "He'll be fine. Just nothing too strenuous and absolutely nothing stressful. The Azure is still stabilizing, and his body is trying to amalgamate the new arm into his system. I've held up my part of the bargain, so you better make sure you do too Jubei."

He turned towards Jubei, and saw the cat frown. "It wasn't a bargain kid. Ya forgot that I called in a favor?"

Kokonoe shrugged. "A favor from you is a bargain for me. You know exactly what I want. And as much as I want you to just leave me alone, I want to study the Azure even more. I'll be back in six months, for study. And I'm taking those chains." Kokonoe finished as she turned around and left the room without another word.

He heard Jubei sigh, and saw him start shaking his head. He heard him mutter something, but could only get the tail end of it. "…gther of mine takes up too much of me."

Before he could decipher what Jubei said, the cat turned around and faced him. "So," He began. "You alright kid?"

He frowned at the question. "What did you do to me?" He was supposed to be dead after all. He wasn't slow. He remembered having his arm forcibly severed, he remembered it flying off probably into the burning buildings, turning into ash. He remembered it all, the pain, the feeling of trying to move his stump of an arm, Terumi's voice and face. He remembered it all because he thought those would be his last memories. His last thoughts as he was taken by death's grip and pulled into oblivion.

But he wasn't dead, he wasn't in oblivion, and he certainly wasn't in heaven or hell.

"Yer a sharp kid. Figure it out." Jubei shrugged before he took the seat Kokonoe had been sitting on not a minute before.

He clucked his tongue in frustration, but decided against speaking out. "My arm got cut off, my brother was trying to kill me, and my sister was taken by a homicidal maniac called Terumi that probably had something to do with Jin going bat shit crazy, and my home and caretaker are all nothing but ashes now." He tried hard not to make his tone biting and angry, but all it accomplished was making his sound more bitter than anything else. "So you tell me, what exactly I haven't 'figured out' yet." He made air quotes as he said that.

Jubei stared at him impassively, his furry face and whiskers barely moving as he did so. He was a little disgruntled, but kept up his own face and stared right back. He wasn't in the mood for this kind of hard-ass shit.

For a minute, Jubei didn't say anything. Finally, he let out a small sigh, before he shook his head. "Well, glad to see yer at least lucid." Jubei commented. "Anyway, yer lucky to be alive honestly. I found ya half-dead and half-buried under a mountain of rubble. I managed to give ya first aid with basic Ars Magus, but yer arm, well, there are some things magic and science can't fix." He frowned, so he was just going to tell him after all that? No bullshitting?

"So I called in a favor," Jubei shook his head again. "I called in Kokonoe, and had her fix up yer arm. 'Course, I added something in it to give ya some incentive of losing it in the first place." Added something? What was he talking about?

As if reading his words, Jubei's feline eyes locked into his. He felt a shiver run up his spine, the sheer seriousness in Jubei's eyes told him whatever it was, it was dangerous. "The Azure Grimoire."

Azure Grimoire? What was that?

Before he could ask that question, Jubei interrupted him. "I'll tell yah everything else later. Right now, ya need to get some rest. Ya heard Kokonoe, yer body is still tryna' compensate having a new right arm. Plus the Azure is a bit temperamental."

He bristled a little at the explanation. "What am I, some kind of science project?!" He snapped. "If it's so dangerous, then why the fuck did you put it in me?!"

He stared straight at Jubei, who didn't even flinch at his anger. Instead, he said five words that shut him up. "…Would you rather be dead?"

He couldn't find a response to that, so instead, he sighed and lay his head down and muttered "Stupid cat."

For a few seconds, there was only silence in the room. He didn't say anything more, nor did Jubei respond to his insult. He was about to close his eyes and take up Jubei's suggestion of sleeping, but Jubei interrupted him before he could.

"Listen, kid," The cat began. He didn't turn towards the cat, and instead continued staring up at the ceiling. But he did acknowledge he had heard him by nodding his head a little. He heard Jubei sigh, before he continued. "When I got to ya, you were plenty messed up. If I didn't step in and saved ya, ya might've been just road kill."

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "I get that." He really did. He was supposed to be dead. No two shits about that. Still… there was the matter of _how_ Jubei saved him that was still unanswered. "But how exactly did you do it?"

He heard Jubei sigh. "I already told ya-" Jubei was probably going to tell him about his new arm and this Azure thing. But he interrupted by growling.

"Cut the shit old man. No one just carries around an arm while they're walking through the forest towards a church. No one just magically has an item that could kill people if it decides it wanted to go and play, and unless you're a vampire-cat thing, I doubt you're the one that turned my hair white and my eye red."

He turned to glare at the cat, but was met with an unfazed stare. He didn't let it bother him, he didn't look away. He just looked on and stared. He didn't want to be treated as some kid here. He stopped being a kid ever since Saya got sick. If he can handle seeing his little sister dying, then he sure as hell can handle finding out that he was half-dead and what exactly was done to save him.

He saw Jubei's mouth open, ready to answer. But before the cat could, another voice echoed inside the room. "This one is a bit uncouth isn't he?" He turned towards the door, only to see it still closed. Where the fuck did that come from then?

He turned back to Jubei, but something from he caught something from his peripheral vision and turned his head to the left. There, at the foot of his bed, was a… girl. She was in a black frilly dress that screamed gothic; paired with her blonde hair and red eyes you could almost say she was born for this look. Even her inner shirt, which was white, complimented her gothic look absurdly. The only stark color that stood out was her red bow, atop her head and blonde hair, that almost made her look like a…

"Rabbit." He said. Strange, that felt right and almost felt like a reflex.

In response to his nickname, the blonde haired goth girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh my, such an uncouth barbarian calling me by such a name? I would be scared of my innocence if I didn't know that you cannot touch me." The girl's tone was mocking. He scrunched his face, wait… those words almost sounded like they were imply- son of a…

"I ain't no pervert you bunny rabbit." He shuddered. Yeah. No, no way in hell was he going to take someone's innocence like that. Fuck no. There was sick, and then there was _sick_. The sister in the church didn't condone violence, she despised murder and torture, but she abhorred rape.

In response to his words, the blonde girl hummed in mock thought. "Perhaps," She amended with a mocking nod. "But you are still a barbarian that needs to learn some manners."

Alright, fuck that. "Who the hell are you anyway rabbit?" He didn't know who this girl was, but for whatever reason, she got under his skin a little too well.

In response to his question, the girl turned away from him and towards Jubei. "Have you told him about what he holds yet?" The girl asked, completely ignoring his question. He felt his eyebrow twitch as he readied stared at her. Now she was ignoring him? The hell was wrong with her?

"About the Azure?" Jubei responded, a bemused smile on his face as he stared at his frustrated face. "Yeah I did, as to what it does though, not yet. It's still too early."

The girl nodded her head in response to Jubei's words. "I concur." She said. Suddenly, as if being pulled by something, the girl began _floating_ in midair. He almost couldn't believe his eyes at what he was seeing, but then something even stranger happened. An umbrella suddenly materialized in the girl's hands.

"What the hell?" He muttered as he stared. He had heard of Ars Magus doing amazing things. But floating and materializing something wasn't one of those things. "How are you doing that?"

The girl gave him a bemused/benevolent smile, before a chair materialized behind her. She then sat down, before a table and a whole set of tea cups and a tea kettle appeared on the table. The girl reached for the kettle and poured herself a cup of tea, and then dismissed the kettle with a wave of her hands. The girl then gave him another knowing look, before she sipped her tea silently.

She probably wasn't going to answer his question.

He heard a sigh, and turned towards Jubei, who was quietly shaking his head. The cat turned towards the girl before he spoke. "Aren't ya gonna introduce yerself to 'im?" Jubei thought for a second, before he asked another question. "And whatever happened to just letting him down easy? Why'd ya go and show yerself now Rachel?"

The girl – Rachel – put down her teacup, before she turned towards Jubei. "I do not offer my name and prestige to someone as uncouth as him. Just being in the same room as this barbarian may put a stain to my family's name." He growled, okay, this bitch was asking for it. Before he could say anything though, Rachel was talking again. "Aside from that, while I did say that he should be told about his burden in a calm time and location, preferably without me in his vicinity, I had an alarming epiphany about your daughter."

Okay, now he was lost. Why the hell were they talking like he wasn't here in the first place? "What the hell are you two talking about? Don't talk as if I'm not here damn it."

In response to his outburst, Rachel turned towards him and gave him a mocking glare. "You may as well not be here. You clearly have no idea what we're talking about. So why don't you sit quietly and let the grown ups talk. We have no use for your uncouth language and outbursts."

"Will you shut the hell up!" He had it. "Stop calling me uncouth! This is the way I talk to people that choose to get under my skin for no apparent reason! Besides, not like I'm not involved anyway. Whatever you guys did, I have to repay." His voice dimmed as he reached the end of his sentence. He hated to admit it, but he did owe them. He may not be the nicest of guys, but he was taught to always repay others kindness. He wasn't about to spit in that lesson, not when the person that taught him that was now long gone.

In response to his words, Rachel hummed. "Perhaps I have been a bit too harsh on you." She amended with a slight nod of her head. "Very well. As it seems you have been taught a modicum of respect and civility, you are no longer a barbarian."

He rolled his eyes. "Well gee, that makes me feel so much better." He said sarcastically.

Rachel smiled at his words. "Yes, from henceforth you are now just an uncivilized brute." Rachel took another sip of her tea, purposely ignoring his angry glare. She finished sipping, before she put down her teacup on the floating table and turned back towards Jubei. "Now, you may be quiet as this conversation involves civilized people, an uncivilized brute like you have no power to speak here."

He was about to snarl, get angry, or do something like chuck a pillow at her. But before he could, Jubei interrupted with a sigh. "Rachel, don't ya think the kid's had enough? You remember what's in his right arm don't ya?"

Rachel only let out a harrumph, before she daintily picked up her teacup and sipped on it. Though she didn't say anything, he couldn't help but smile a little vindictively as he stared at her. Hah, can't talk now can you?

"Now what's this about havin' an epiphany or somethin'. What'd you think Kokonoe will do?" Wait, Kokonoe? Wasn't that the beastkin woman that was just here?

Seeing his confused face, Jubei nodded his head at him as if to answer his thoughts. "That's right kid, that high maintenance woman was my daughter. Ain't much of a resemblance I know, but-"

"There _is_ no resemblance." He blurted out without thinking. He shut up fast thought as he saw Jubei stare at him blankly. He didn't care if the cat was one of the legendary heroes, but still, that didn't mean he didn't respect that he had power and could probably kill him in just the span it took for you to blink.

But instead of getting angry, or getting annoyed at his words, Jubei let out a harsh bark of laughter. "Hah! Ain't that right." Jubei barked in amusement. He calmed down somewhat, before he let out a breath. "Still, even though she takes up the looks of her mother, she's definitely my daughter. If not personality-wise that is."

"So you're a control freak like her too?" He asked, honestly curious about that.

In response, Jubei let out a snort. "You wish." Jubei features then lightened a little before a small smile appeared on his furry snout. "I'm much worse."

He stared at Jubei as he digested what he had said. Before he let out a small snort, which turned into a chuckle, which turned into full blown laughter. Jubei having mirrored the transition as well.

They were cut off from their laughter however, as Rachel let out a dainty cough. "While I do not want to interrupt such a humorous bonding situation. I believe we still have the matter of why I'm here in first place."

Jubei sobered up immediately. "Alright then," Jubei said as he pushed himself off the chair he was sitting on. "We'll talk outside. Somethin' tells me this isn't somethin' good." Jubei then turned towards him, before he leveled him with a slight glare. "And you get some rest. Like it or not kid, yer body simply can't handle this much power without supervision." And with that, Jubei turned around and began walking away.

He stared at Jubei's back as he left through the door, before he remembered there was someone else here. He turned towards the space where Rachel had a table and a chair and a tea set and umbrella. Only to find her gone. The air where she and all her items were floating in empty.

He rolled his eyes before he propped his hands behind his head and lay back down. It wasn't like he was expecting a proper goodbye from her, but damn, can she be any more rude? And he was supposed to be the uncivilized one here.

 **XxX**

She reappeared inside the small common room for the inn Jubei had taken Ragna to after she had finished her operation with the arm and the Azure. Truth be told, the inn felt quaint, it had a sort of atmosphere to it that just felt warm and cozy. From the old-fashioned wooden sofas and chairs that had nothing for comfort save for cushions, and the wooden coffee table sitting in front of them. To the receptionist/owner of the little inn that was an old man with an ever present smiling face. It was homey, it was warm and inviting.

She didn't like being in it for all those reasons.

She quietly sat down on the wooden sofa with the comfortable cushions. Her previous table set and chair had disappeared as soon as she reappeared. She hadn't brought her pets with her yet, they were inconsequential things really, the only reason she kept them around was to channel all her latent power. As it stood though, teleporting and levitation is the least of her more strenuous powers.

She looked over towards the stairs, and saw Jubei walk down from it. He watched as the cat turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs and walk towards the reception desk. He spoke, and gave a small joke that made both him and the old smiling man laugh, before he nodded his head and turned towards her and started walking.

How utterly disgusting.

"If you try and open with a joke, I will leave this instant." She wasn't joking, if he tried and made her laugh, she'd leave. Important discussion or not, she did not like jokes. She did not like smiles, and she certainly did not like smiling at jokes.

"Sheesh," Jubei said exasperatedly as he shook his head. "Ya could stand to be a little bit brighter can't ya? 'Sides, I only told the old man to bring some food up to Ragna's room. Poor kid hasn't eaten in three days. I'm not even sure he knows that or not."

She let out a small huff. "If I chose to stand in the sunnier side of life, I'd burn to death." Not really, but she'd be annoyed. She then realized Jubei said something peculiar. "He hasn't asked how long he's been asleep?"

Jubei's face scrunched up in seriousness. "Not from when he talked with Kokonoe. I heard'em talk for awhile down the hall, kid didn't bother askin' for a glass of water."

That is… alarming to say the least. "Perhaps it is a side effect of the Azure. It eats seithr, so perhaps that is what it has been doing and giving nutrients for Ragna whilst he is asleep." That was the most logical solution, but also the most alarming one. Simply because the seithr concentration here was so low that it was almost undetectable.

Jubei gave a shrug. "Maybe. But I wouldn't want to just leave the kid alone with that thing." Jubei's regarded her with a slight nod. "That's why I'm thinkin' of training 'im."

She nodded her head in acquiesce. "I suppose that is for the best. The Azure Grimoire isn't something I have much knowledge on. At least, in comparison to you." That was true. As powerful as she was, she couldn't hope to comprehend, much less control it. The only person she knew that could gain a semblance of control over it was Ragna himself, but without the idea engine, most likely he'll try and keep from using it.

Another thought, and this time she frowned. "And I've interfered enough." Saving Ragna was the only thing she was allowed to do. To interfere directly into his life, to give him power by letting him train under her or her butler, wasn't something that was lightly thought about. She was supposed to be an observer only, if she wasn't careful, the timeline could change so drastically, could become something so distorted, that it would be forced to reset. It would cause chaos.

Chaos. She sighed; it really wasn't something that could be predicted. It could certainly be foreseen, something chaotic happening like an earthquake or a sudden downpour could be foreseen, but to actually see what happens and to stop it from happening wasn't something that was possible.

Jubei hummed as he closed his eyes. "I suppose ya might be right." Jubei's feline snout then curled up in a smile. "But that doesn't mean you won't stop by every now and then am I right?"

She let out a harrumph. "Of course," What kind of question was that? "As much as I cannot interfere with Ragna and his life, that doesn't mean I cannot interact with him and watch him in close proximity." Loopholes, there was always one. And being an observer, she was allowed to observe things. In whatever distance she wanted.

Jubei let out a small chuckle. "Ya really like the kid don't ya?"

She frowned and leveled Jubei with a glare. "How could I possibly like someone so uncouth, uncivilized, and so crude? You insult me with those words."

Jubei raised his paws in defense. "My bad, my bad." He let out a small sigh, before he dropped his paws. She then noticed that his smile was still on his face. "Ya love 'im."

She kept a straight face, and didn't react. It would be unseemly and unladylike to react in an unsophisticated manner. So instead of shrieking in defiance, she instead, gave Jubei her hardest and coldest glare. "I do believe we are getting off topic. Since when has this conversation been about me?"

Jubei however, was unfazed by her glare, and only shrugged his shoulders. "Alright I'll drop it." She nodded her head, which was for the best. If she heard another word out of him implying he liked Ragna in the slightest, then she would have left without another word.

Jubei then relaxed a little, before he gave her a questioning look. "Alright, back on topic. What's this 'bout my daughter?"

She sat primly before she gave Jubei a serious look. "Those chains she took, those aren't something I'm comfortable just giving to her."

Jubei gave her another shrug. "That makes two of us."

She frowned. "Then why exactly did you give them to her so readily?" She didn't trust Kokonoe. The scientist beastkin woman wasn't immoral; she was amoral, which probably was a hundred times worse than being immoral. At least with immorality, she has standards, with amorality, she had none. She only chose to keep going, never mind the repercussions.

Jubei gave him a strange look in response to her question. "She was the only person I trust that could actually get the job done and not run-off with the arm itself." Jubei contradicted her thoughts, but before she could say something biting, Jubei continued. "As amoral Kokonoe is, she isn't someone that doesn't keep her word. Her mother made sure of that."

She let out s slight nod. "And she did well to raise her to do that much." She agreed. "But the fact remains that if she is given those chains, there will be deep repercussions to it. And it isn't the fact that she took the chains and she is willing to use them, it's the fact that if she does use it, she can probably reproduce it. At least to some extent."

Jubei nodded his head at her. "And I can agree with that. But still, she was the only person I knew that would be able to see if anything starts going wrong with the Azure. Her mother taught her everything she knew in that regard."

Well, he was right. If anyone knew what the Azure was and what it could do, Kokonoe's mother would be that person. So it would only be logical that she would have taught Kokonoe everything she knew regarding her research and the Azure. Still… "Nine was indeed a good person. But Kokonoe isn't her mother. Kokonoe is willing to do things that Nine would never think of doing."

Jubei sighed. "Ya got me there Rachel. I guess it all comes down to just trusting Kokonoe to not do something drastic." Ah, there it was. Trust.

"I'm afraid that isn't something I can just follow." She said truthfully. "I simply do not trust Kokonoe like you do."

In response, Jubei gave her a slight smirk. "Well too bad, I trust her enough to allow her this leeway. If ya got a problem with it, I suggest ya do something about it yerself."

She gave Jubei a blank look. She was a little miffed at the response, but she didn't let it show on her face. That would just give Jubei something to be amused about. So instead, she chose to ignore the jab. "Very well, if you feel so strongly about this, I suppose you have my trust in regards to it." She said a little too tightly. "But be warned, if she ever does something that is a direct danger…" She let her voice trail, letting Jubei fill in the rest.

Jubei nodded his head, understanding what she was getting at. "I know. If that ever happens, I'll take care of it." Jubei said. His voice hard and a little detached. That was no surprise however. A father that might be forced to 'take care' of his daughter if she ever does something dangerous wasn't anything normal.

"'Sides, it's not like the chains are the only thing from a different world." Jubei added, and she her frown deepened. He was right, the chains were attached to the arm that was now Ragna's. And with the Azure in it as well, there was an added danger to not knowing what it was and what it could do. "But I'll make sure that nothin' happens to it."

She nodded her head at Jubei's answer. "Very well," She then floated up, before she regarded Jubei with one last look. "Now I must take my leave. I've lingered enough in this realm for today. And this discussion has drained the last dregs of my energy. I shall slumber for now, but I shall return in a week's time to see Ragna's tutelage under you."

"Aren't ya at least gonna say bye to the kid?" Jubei asked as he stood up. "If he's gonna be seeing you for a number of times, it's best if he gets used to yer face."

She let out a slight harrumph, before she turned away from Jubei. "I doubt that crass individual has enough brain power to remember my face. Besides, I will not be gone long." She was about to teleport away from the premises, but then she remembered something else.

She turned back to Jubei, and gave him a questioning look. "Do you still have them?" She asked, tone indifferent.

Jubei gave her a surprised look, before he settled himself and just shrugged. "'Course I do. Those things aren't somethin' I'm willin' to part with anytime soon."

For some reason, she felt inexplicably at ease at those words. It wasn't like she liked seeing him in that red coat, but if Ragna was ever forced to fight without a weapon, well, there was a timeline where he had been killed without the BloodEdge. And she didn't like the thought of reliving that memory anytime soon.

She nodded her head. "I shall take my leave then. See to it that boy has enough control over the Azure by the time you finish training him. But do not neglect training him in the arts of magic and science either. If he grows up as nothing more than a killer, I will be most cross with you."

Jubei let out a sigh as he shrugged his shoulders. "No pressure eh?" He joked a little, giving a slight laugh as he did so. "Don't worry yer pretty little head Rachel. I'll make sure the kid has enough training. I won't send'im out there with nothing but the Azure in his right hand and a sword on his back. That much you can be sure of."

She nodded her head at Jubei, before she turned and left. Letting the darkness consume her as she traveled back to her own home. She felt slightly better at hearing Jubei's reassurance, but still, whatever those chains were, and whoever's right arm was attached to them, they were still from another world. And there was also the fact that she had seen _someone_ before the portal had closed, someone from another time or world. Most probably both.

And that thought didn't give her much rest at all.

 **XxX**

"…" He didn't respond, he just stared. Honestly, he didn't even know _how_ to respond. How were you supposed to react to finding out that you had something that was stronger and much more dangerous than a thousand hydrogen bombs in their arm that came from another world altogether? Go ahead, try and think of how to respond to that, cause he sure as hell couldn't think of anything besides saying, "The hell?!"

"Sorry kid, that's the basic gist of things as they are now." Jubei nodded his head to confirm his question and confusion. "Ya got an arm though, so at least ya got somethin' outta it right?"

"Cut the crap old man," He ground out. He was not in the mood of looking on the bright side of things here. The fact that he had something so dangerous and so unstable in his right arm that wasn't even his to begin with was almost enough to give him a mini-panic attack. "I don't want to hear no sunshine and butterflies, give it to me straight. How the fuck am I supposed to make sure this thing doesn't blow up?"

Jubei regarded him with a critical eye, before he shrugged his shoulders. "Right now, as ya are?" Jubei asked, and he nodded his head. To his dismay, Jubei shook his head. "Not much. If ya can't even control yer outbursts when ya get surprised, ya'll be killing not just yerself, but everything within a hundred thousand mile radius from ya."

Well… shit.

He gave Jubei a slight look. "You're… not exaggerating, are you." Though his words asked a question, his tone came out sounding like a statement. And to his further aggravation, Jubei shook his head.

"Sorry kid, 'fraid not. The Azure Grimoire is a lot of things, but being nice and small ain't one of 'em."

He clucked his tongue in frustration. Fuck. Fucking fuck. God fucking damn it. How the hell was he supposed to find Saya like this? Hell, he'd probably be better off jumping off a ledge then risk letting the damn thing in his arm explode and kill everyone from here to half-way around the world.

Jubei seemed to understand his inner anguish, and cleared his throat to make him look up at him. "Buck up kid, ya got somethin' most people can't even begin to imagine havin'. It ain't all bad."

He had it. "Ain't all that bad huh?" He repeated, slowly but holding all the anger he was feeling. "Why the hell do you think that you old coot?! How am I supposed to find my sister and save her, if I'm just a walking fucking time bomb?! At this rate, I'd rather just jump off a cliff just to make sure I don't accidentally blow up half the world!"

Jubei only regarded him with a cool eye, before the cat sighed. "Kid, calm dow-"

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down!" He snapped as he pointed his left finger at Jubei. "I've been through shit. I've gotten my arm cut-off, I've had to defend myself from getting killed by my own brother, and I saw my sister get kidnapped by a psychotic man with green hair that looked like it belonged to a lawn from a cartoon! Now I have a cat telling me that my arm, which isn't even mine, has a weapon of mass destruction that could kill millions of lives if I snapped?! How the fuck do you think I can calm down!?" By the time he had finished his rant, he was panting from overexertion. He was being immature, he had realized this the moment he opened his mouth for the first word. But he couldn't stop shouting, stop cursing, this wasn't fair. He wanted to save his sister, to find her and kill that sick son of a bitch that took her. Jin could take care of himself, but their sister was being kidnapped and used for who knows what by that sick fucker with the lawn green hair.

Jubei took all his shouting in stride, and instead of getting angry, biting back, or even shouting back at him to calm down, he just sat there in front of him and gave him a cool look. "Ya can start by takin' a deep breath. Control yer anger kid."

As angry as he was, he still understood that he needed to calm down. He wasn't stupid enough to let his anger get the best of him, and thus, consume half the world. Still, even as he took a steadying breath, he still felt angry, he felt cheated. This wasn't how he wanted his life to go, not how he wanted his family's life to go. He wanted to see them smiling, together, Saya and Jin, wanted to see them grow up. They were his only family, and now that was stripped from him. Never mind their home, their caretaker, he just wanted them back.

He felt his legs wobble, before they gave out from under him and he was forced to land on the floor sitting up. This… this was just a little too much, even for him. He always tried to be strong, for Saya and Jin. But… now he had no reason to be strong. How could he be strong?

"Kid, don't start cryin'." He looked up at Jubei as he heard his disapproving voice. "Yer not that weak."

He took one last steadying breath, before he pushed back depressing thoughts and stood up. "Yeah, I'm not." He turned towards the door and began walking towards it. Even though his legs were still shaky, even though he was still in shock, he had something to do. He cursed himself for showing something as pathetic as that. He wasn't weak; he had to be strong, for Saya and Jin.

"Where do ya think yer going kid?" He heard Jubei asked. He didn't turn to face him, and only continued to walk forward.

"To find Saya." Was all he said. He didn't have time to be moping around here. Screw having a weapon of mass destruction in his arm, he'd take care of that later. He still needed to find his sister.

A hand suddenly found itself in front of him. He turned to his left, and saw Jubei standing just by his side. "Kid, if ya do that, you'll only get killed."

He growled, before he pushed back Jubei's arm and walked past him. "Yeah well, what's it to you?" He snapped. But as he was about to take another step forward, he was suddenly yanked back by a hand on his shoulder. He fell on the floor as he stared up at the only one that could have done that. "The hell is wrong with you?!"

Jubei straightened himself, before he cast him a cold look. "Kid, I'm warnin' ya. If ya go out there, ya die."

He clucked his tongue in frustration. "And I asked. What's it to you if I die?" He half-growled/half-asked. Damn it, did this guy want him to repay him or something? Well, he didn't have anything besides the clothes on his back and the arms that he had… well, arm that he had.

Jubei let out a sigh. "Kid, I'm not keepin' ya here to make sure ya stay alive." That made him confused. But before he could ask anything, Jubei continued. "I'm keepin' ya here to make sure ya don't kill everyone."

That made him freeze. He had forgotten. His arm was a weapon of mass destruction.

Jubei sat down until his feline eyes were on him. "Kid." The old cat began. "Yer not just livin' fer yerself or fer yer siblings anymore. Yer living for everyone else on this planet. That thing that's in yer arm?" Jubei raised a paw and pointed it in the direction of his right arm. "That's somethin' that can and will destroy the world if it decided it wanted to. If ya go out now, yer not just killin' yerself, yer killing the world."

He looked away from Jubei's eyes. Damn it, he didn't have to go and make him feel guilty about it. He remembered how the sister that took care of them loved her job and the people around them. She had always taught them to see the goodness in people, and even for him, a pessimistic asshole (those were both his and Saya's words, though with Saya, it was just pessimistic dunderhead) he understood what the sister was telling them.

He couldn't just let the world die for his stupidity. Saya and the sister would both be disappointed in him if he ever met them again in the afterlife.

Not that he believed in that shit, but well, if the sister believed in that, then there must be at least _something_ right?

He didn't know how long he was silent, but when he next spoke, it was with a question. "Then what do I do?" He asked as he looked up and into Jubei's eyes.

Jubei closed his eyes and then scratched the back of his head in a lackadaisical manner. "To be honest kid, that's entirely up to you. If ya think ya can get yer sister without killin' half the world, I'll trust yer word and let you go."

That was surprising. And his surprise seemed to show on his face as Jubei shook his head at him. "Don't take that as a free pass kid. The moment ya go out there and try and save yer sister. I'll be keepin' an eye on you. If ya go out of control, or ya start killin' things. I step in and kill ya." There it was, the kicker. But… that couldn't be the only thing he could do can it?

He thought for a second, before an idea popped into his head. "You're strong." He finally said. Jubei seemed surprised at the word. But before the cat could ask anything, he continued. "You're one of the six legendary heroes that helped kill the black beast right?"

Jubei hummed in thought. "We didn't kill it kid, we sealed it. Ya can't kill that thing even if ya tried killin' it's time." That confused him, but he pushed back the question that was in his mind.

So instead, he asked another question. "Can you train me?"

Jubei's face then scrunched up, turning into a hard glare. "Why should I?" Jubei asked. "I ain't babysitting a kid that can't even control his anger."

He growled. So he wanted him to beg did he? Fuck that. "If you don't, I'll walk out of that door."

Jubei shrugged his shoulders in reply. "Ya gotta do better than that kid. Ya can't bluff yer way into becoming my student."

He let out a snort. "I ain't bluffing old man. It's either you train me, or I walk out that door and saving Saya as is."

"Are ya threatening me kid?" Jubei asked, his feline eyes narrowed.

He shrugged his shoulders. "More like blackmailing you." It was really. But it was better than the alternative. He wasn't about to bend knee to a jerky cat that had some sort of hero complex.

Jubei leveled him with a glare, but that glare soon disappeared and turned into laughter. "Hah!" Jubei laughed as he stood up. "Yer alright kid. Get some sleep. We're leavin' first thing in the morning."

Wait… that was it? "The hell? That's it?" He repeated what he was thinking.

Jubei turned towards him and gave him a wry smile. "Kid, I was gonna train ya whatever ya decided to do." He watched as Jubei unsheathed a sword from his back. He then noticed it was a katana, a regularly sized one. But due to Jubei's height (which only really reached up to his shoulders) it looked long on the cat. "Alright kid, stick out yer hand."

Tentatively, he did so. He winced as Jubei's katana – Musashi – sliced his palm and draw blood. He instinctively reached back his hand and glared at Jubei. "The hell are you doing old man?!"

Jubei didn't respond, and only used Masamune to open up his own wound in his paw. He then reached out the sliced paw, and gestured for Ragna to grasp it. "Alright kid, we seal this with a handshake."

He looked at the offered paw, and then his own, before he nodded his head and reached forward. He grasped the paw, and immediately he felt the wound in his hand sting, but he held on. Firmly, he shook the paw, and then their hands were parted.

Jubei sheathed Musashi on his back. "Alright. Get some sleep kid, we got a long day tomorrow." Jubei said as he turned around and walked out the room.

He sat there, staring at Jubei, watching the cat leave. That was… a weird end to be completely honest. Was the guy unstable or something? He looked ready to kill him one second, and the next, he laughed it all off. And what was with that blood exchange ritual? That was even weirder. He only hoped that the cat had his shot. He didn't want to get rabies.

Wait a minute. That sword…. Jubei didn't say anything about his sword. So why did he know that name?

He sat still for a minute, trying to think of an answer, but came up with nothing. Well, whatever, not like it was important or anything. He probably subconsciously remembered the name since Jubei was a legendary hero. He remembered the sister telling them stories about them when they – him, Saya, and Jin – were kids. So that was probably why he knew the name.

He stood up, before he turned around and went over to his bed. But as he laid down on the bed, his thoughts were not on Jubei or his recent apprenticeship with the cat. Nor was it on his sister and brother and a sociopath with green hair. No, it was on Musashi.

He knew the name, and he had surmised that he subconsciously remembered it from when the sister was telling them stories. But…

Why the hell did he know the exact measurements of the sword?

 **XxX**

 **Midterms. FML.**

 **Oh. And I'm back. Woot!**

 **Anyway, as you guys can see, Ragna swears. Perhaps a little too much. But that's part of his character. And plus, he's still a preteen here. I won't exactly state the age, but I can say right now that he'll 'mellow' out as time moves on. We were all hormonal teens once in our lives, so ya'll can probably understand this.**

 **Aside from that, this chapter is more on world building and seeing who the characters are and what they're going to be doing. Most of you (I'm guessing) probably haven't played a game of Blazblue, so I'll try and give the characters and the story justice. I won't go drastically changing things. They'll stay the same. This isn't my characters, my plot, or anything really. I'm just a fan that's writing stuff so that people can and will appreciate the characters and the story more. There is a big difference between fanfiction, and writing your own story. And I hope that people will keep that in mind.**

 **Aside from that, for the Blazblue heads out there. Did I do the characters justice? Are they in character? Did they stay in character? Or are they so horrendously off character that people will start liking them for the wrong reasons? I'd appreciate if you guys told me if I'm going off on some things or not.**

 **Aside from all this. I'm also starting to write my own book. Don't know where the heck this will go, but it'll be good… probably. Hopefully. Wait, why did I tell you guys that in the first place? Ya'll probably don't care anyway. Kappa.**

 **As to what effects Shirou's arm has on the Azure and Ragna himself. Well, you'll see in the next chapter. Let's just say that Ragna might look good in a blue and white uniform… not that he'll stay long anyway.**

 **C.O.Y.L out, peace!**


	3. Ars Magus

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Made some mistakes last chapter. Particularly Jubei having a sword called Masamune. My mistake, it's not Masamune but Musashi. I've taken the liberty of fixing that. As for Jubei's eyepatch though, it explains it in this chapter.**

 **Also, isn't it weird how Jubei and Valkenhayn are friends like that? If you think about it… yeah. Funny as hell.**

 **XxX**

"Come on kid, it's been what, a week? Put yer back into it!" He grit his teeth as his master goaded him. He swore in his head that if he didn't get this right and that old codger pointed out how long it's been again, he'll flip.

"I'm trying god damn it!" He couldn't really stop his mouth from running off though, as it stood, he was frustrated… no, not frustrated. Annoyed and angry that it was taking him so damn long to get this piece of shit Ars Magus to work was more like it. So yeah, basically frustrated.

"Destroy!" He shouted the one word aria that would activate the Ars. Immediately, he felt the blood in his body start to heat up, before he felt seithr begin to gather in his center and crawl up towards his extended right arm. The energy traveled up the length of his replacement arm, before it stopped just at his open palm. He then felt the energy begin to coalesce into one point, before it started to thrum lowly.

"Here I go!" He imagined the energy in his hand shooting off towards the tree, making a hole in the middle of it, destroying a part of it, damaging it, breaking i-

Before he could even finish another word for destroy, his palm suddenly started to grow insanely hot. "Shi-" He couldn't finish that single word before he felt the energy fall in itself and explode at the center of his palm, sending his arm flying back along with his entire body.

"Fuck!" He swore as he landed on his back and was sent spiraling through the ground. He stopped just short of where Jubei was sitting, and as he stopped, he was forced to look up at the face of Jubei. A light smirk adorning the old cat's face.

"Shut up." He muttered under his breath. Sure the old codger didn't technically say anything, but there was enough smugness on his damn face that he really didn't need to say anything.

"Didn't say anythin' kid." He frowned as he saw Jubei's smirk twitch just a bit higher. He growled before he sat up and turned around to face Jubei.

"Just what did I do wrong?" Fuck it; he didn't want to get blasted back again. He's been doing that same Ars for the last week and so far, all that got him were blister on his back as he was dragged through the ground due to being thrown back by the damn thing.

Jubei hummed in thought at his question. "Well, can't rightly say what ya did wrong so far. You've been followin' my directions to the letter." Of course he had been. He started doing that on the third freaking day after he was so fed up with messing up on his own. Too bad it didn't help him, well, it did have the effect of only blowing him back twenty feet instead of his previous thirty. But damn it, he was still getting thrown like a ragdoll every time he did it.

"Then what's wrong with my technique damn it!" He wasn't really angry at Jubei, more at himself really. But this was so damn frustrating! He had half a mind of just chucking the Ars Magus at the ground and stomping at it. If it weren't for the fact that it was Jubei's, he'd have already done so.

"Nothin' really." Jubei shrugged. He felt his eyebrow twitch. What kind of a lazy ass answer was that coming from his teacher?!

Before he could rebuke the old cat, Jubei spoke up again, cutting him off. "Ya know what an Ars Magus is right?" He blinked at the question.

"Well, yeah. Of course." He answered. Who didn't know what an Ars Magus was? Even the sister knew what they were, even if she didn't particularly like using them… well, more like she couldn't. Not like they could use any in the church anyway. For some reason, all Ars Magus seemed to fail whenever they were in the church… not that it stopped Jin and that bastard Terumi from setting fire to it.

Apparently sensing his thoughts, Jubei cleared his throat. He looked at the cat, and saw him shrugging his shoulders. "An Ars Magus is a combination of technology and magic. It uses the seithr in the surrounding area to actualize something that shouldn't be rightly possible fer a normal human to do." Jubei paused, before he shook his head. "Aside from sorcerers and magicians, utilizing seithr isn't something a regular person should be able ta do."

"I know that already." He grumbled. What the hell? What's up with the history lesson? He knew what seithr was, he knew what it did to humans and animals it came in contact with. "What's the point of telling- Ow! The fuck are you doing old man?!" He swore at the old cat as he felt a paw strike his head. He didn't know how Jubei had done so, but it had looked like he hadn't moved from his position at all. Was he seriously just that fast?

"Just shut up and listen kid." Jubei chastised him. He grumbled under his breath before he crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright, if yer done interruptin' me." Jubei cleared his throat and coughed. "Anyway. An Ars Magus is simply put, a tool a regular human can use to utilize the seithr around them. Yer arm, well rather the Azure Grimoire, is an Ars Magus in of itself."

He blinked. Well. That was new. But that lead to the question… "So why the hell did you warn me about it not being mine?" He asked.

He recalled the first lesson Jubei had given him, the day after they departed from the inn he had stayed three days and nights in. He remembered Jubei's exact words to him.

" _Never mistake the power of the Azure Grimoire as yer own kid."_

But what he just said now made no sense. The Azure Grimoire – his arm – wasn't his, but it was an Ars Magus. An Ars Magus relied on the seithr around it to power itself, but still relied on the person's compatibility to it. And though most generic Ars, like a levitation Ars, or even an instant writing Ars could be used by regular people. Some forms of Ars Magus required an individual particularly compatible to it to work.

So in short. His Azure Grimoire is an Ars Magus that he probably isn't compatible with… wait. How did that connect with anything?!

"Before ya run yer trap one more time kid, let me continue." Again Jubei interrupted him before he could ask any sort of question. "Right. When I said that the Azure Grimoire isn't yers. I meant it. That thing is a tool, like most Ars Magus. But it's also something not meant fer you." Great. He now had a biological arm that wasn't his, with a particularly moody Ars Magus imbedded into it that wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. Just how fake did he have to be here?

"Now, assumin' ya don't go and ignore my warnings, the Azure Grimoire is somethin' that can help you figure out Ars Magus better than most other folk." Jubei paused as he hummed. "And assumin' ya don't go and mess it up, that arm'a yers will stay as an Armagus. Or an Ars Armagus if ya will."

He stared blankly at Jubei. "The hell kinda name is Ars Armagus?" He blurted out. Whoever named that shit was probably high or drunk or a possible combination of both.

Jubei cracked a small smirk at his question. "Heh, exactly my thoughts when they named it." Jubei then shook his head. "Anyway, the lesson bout Ars Armagus will have ta wait. Right now. I'm givin' ya advice on how to make that destruction Ars I gave ya work." Jubei pointed at his right pants pocket, where the Ars Magus device he was using was currently in.

"That particular Ars Magus isn't at all that difficult to figure out. I already told ya the technique to gettin' to work; I even gave ya a copy of the grimoire needed for the spell incantation. Now it's up ta ya to figure out what's going wrong." He saw the hard look on Jubei's face, and immediately knew he wouldn't be getting any more help from the old coot.

"Feh," He turned his head away in a huff. That didn't help him in the slightest. If anything, all Jubei did was tell him about his arm and that it was an Ars Magus, or Armagus, or whatever the fuck it was. It didn't really tell him what he was doi- wait.

A thought occurred. Usually, an Ars Magus took in the seithr around it to actualize something. Like healing a wound, or floating in midair. But usually, an Ars Magus only worked if it was alone. Having another Ars Magus with a greater seithr intake can mess up other Ars Magus around it.

He stared at his right arm. The Azure Grimoire. He then turned around back around and sat down in front of Jubei. "Tell me what you know about my arm."

Jubei smirked at him. "Kid, how the hell should I know what ya do with yer arm? Don't go askin' an old codger like me somethin' like that."

He scowled. "Damn it I meant the Azure Grimoire you stupid cat." Was he being disrespectful? Yes. Did the old cat deserve it? Hell yes. Was he ever going to stop? Fuck no. He had a small amount of respect for Jubei, but that paled in comparison with how annoyed he was sometimes with all his cryptic teaching lessons.

"Oh. Why didn't ya just say so?" Jubei cleared his throat before his feline eyes turned towards him sharply. He knew that it was only technically one eye, since his other one was concealed by a concealment Ars that hid the eye patch that covered his partially destroyed eye. But damn it that fake that the Ars made looked real enough to fool him.

"Like I've said before. The Azure Grimoire isn't-"

"Isn't mine and I should never mistake it as my own power." He finished for Jubei in an exasperated tone. "I know already damn it. That's the first thing you told me ever since we left that inn. You told me to never forget that lesson or I'll kill everyone on this planet." Really, that wasn't something he was going to forget about anytime soon. The way Jubei had said that the first time, as well as him revealing his eye patch during that lesson still made him shudder somewhat. The look in the old cat's eyes right now paled in comparison to that first lesson.

Jubei sighed. "Kid, I'm not repeatin' this in case ya forget about it. I'm repeatin' this cause I cannot stress that lesson enough." Jubei shook his head. "The Azure Griomoire isn't something anyone can control. Even the nutjob that made it probably only scratched the surface of what the Azure Grimoire can do."

He frowned, something about that sentence seemed off. But he brushed it off. Knowing the old coot, he probably met the maker of the Azure Grimoire and was talking through experience.

"Anyway, to make this particularly long lesson short and to the point. The Azure Grimoire is something that sucks up seithr like a sponge, before it forcibly spews out even more seithr than it took in."

He paled at those words. The fuck? His arm was a seithr generator?

Jubei nodded his head, the action looking even more grim then he expected. "That's right kid. Yer arm can eat seithr, or spew out more seithr. That's what the Azure Grimoire is. An Armagus that threatens not just yer life, but everyone else's. "

He swallowed a lump in his throat. Well, shit. "So… what? Do I just not need to use it?" He honestly didn't want to now. With that kind of explanation.

Jubei shook his head. "I thought ya were more mature then that." Regardless of his apprehension, Jubei's words irked him.

"What then huh?" He questioned the old cat. "If my using is it that dangerous, why the hell shouldn't I not use it?"

"Two negatives make a positive kid, learn yer grammer." Jubei chastised him. He felt his eyebrow twitch at his master's impromptu lesson in language. "Anyway, didn't ya hear what I said? The Azure Grimoire is a tool. A tool is meant to be used. The only real problem anyone will have is if you use the tool incorrectly."

"But-" He wanted to argue, but Jubei cut him off.

"But nothin' kid. The whole reason I'm trainin' ya is so that ya don't mess up. If ya mess up, that reflects on me. So don't mess up, ya hear me?" Jubei said with a grin. A grin he couldn't help but reciprocate.

"Gotcha." He nodded his head at the old cat. For a crusty old cat geezer, he can sure give a good pep talk. Still though… "So what am I doing wrong with the Ars?"

Jubei sighed and shook his head. "Alright kid. Use yer brain. I know fer a fact that there's somethin' in between yer ears that more than hot air."

And there goes his good mood. "Come on. Can't you just tell me? It'll make my training go a helluva lot faster if you did." Well, technically he was complaining now. But really, he didn't want to get blown back every time he doe-

"Oh my." A familiar sophisticated voice sounded from behind him. He knew he heard that voice before, he just didn't know when or where. "Are you so much of a coward that you would choose the easy way out? Perhaps it is best if you just jump off a cliff, that way you won't ever get hurt anymore."

He turned, and saw one of the most annoying people he had ever had the displeasure of knowing. "Rabbit." He said. If she was going to insinuate him killing himself, then he'll sure as hell call her something she doesn't like.

"Rachel, yer right on time. As always." He heard Jubei from behind him greet the bunny-leech. So, her name was Rachel? He had honestly forgotten, since he made a habit of not remembering people that piss him off so much. Well, there were a few exceptions to that rule, but that's not withstanding.

"Indeed I have Jubei." Rachel said as she raised a cup of tea to her mouth. He then realized that the cup hadn't been there when he called out to her. Okay, just how powerful was this chick that she could use spatial transport so casually like that?

"Care for a spot of tea? I'd imagine having to sit through this buffoon's trials in using Ars Magus and failing have left you somewhat drowsy." God damn it. Even when she wasn't talking to him she was insulting him!

"What the hell is your problem bunny-leech? What'd I ever do to you?" He questioned as he stepped forward and stared down at the blonde black-clad girl.

The girl was about to respond, as evident by her mouth opening. But another voice sounded, much higher, and accompanying it was a sharp blow to his nose. "Watch your mouth when talking to the princess!"

"Gah!" He stumbled back as he held his nose. Damn it! Now it was bleeding! "Okay, who the fuck did that?!" He looked around to see if he could spot the dead punk that hit his nose.

"Gii," Rachel's voice sounded. He turned towards the pompous girl and saw her holding a strange stuffed toy that was shaped like a bat. Only this bat was fat and pink and looked like it had a morphing face.

The bat flew down towards Rachel's head level with a smile on its face. "What is it prin- whaaa!" The bat cried out as it was suddenly flung by a sharp slap from Rachel. It landed a few feet away from their position, before it righted itself and flew back.

"If I needed to hit this sorry excuse of a man, I would have done so myself." Rachel's said, a bit of a huff in her voice. "I would advise you to not do that again."

If possible, the fat pink bat looked down and appeared rather bashful. "I'm sorry princess."

Rachel didn't deign it anymore attention, she then turned back towards him. "As I was saying. Perhaps you should just jump off a cliff. Or better yet, overload that destruction Ars Magus you are failing so much to use. Perhaps then you'll find peace and safety when you pass over to the great beyond."

He growled. "Okay. You have five seconds to apologize, before I knock that pretty little head of yours off." He threatened as he channeled the Ars' energy into his body again.

For a second, he thought bunny-leech was going to apologize, but then she opened her mouth. "Go ahead. It's not like a good-for-nothing Neanderthal like you can harm me."

That's it! "Rahh!" He didn't even bother with the incantation. He just poured as much energy he could into the Ars and let loose.

The energy that grew in his chest grew hot, before it started traveling up his right arm. He felt the energy coalesce in his palm, begin to form a sphere. He was sure this was going to fire, to hit the good for nothing bunny in front of him.

But again, the energy seemed to subside. The seithr that was being stored in his body through the Ars in his right pants pocket seemed to die. He didn't what was happening to it, only that it disappeared into his right arm.

The energy simmered and died. But then, he felt the familiar feeling of his right hand grow hotter than usual.

"Shit!" This time, he did managed to shout out a swear before the energy in his palm exploded. He was sent careening backwards, his right arm thrown back as his body was dragged by momentum from it.

He landed on his back again. He knew if he tried to break his fall by turning around he would just eat dirt. So he let his body get dragged through the ground. Normally, this would have annoyed him. But… he had something to think about as he was dragged through the ground.

He skidded to a stop, before he sat up and looked across from him. He expected to see Rachel and Jubei. But instead, saw a… black wall where Jubei and Rachel should have been?

At first he thought he was hallucinating. But then the black wall began to morph into something smaller. He saw then that it had morphed into a big black cat. But unlike Jubei, the cat was on all fours. It slinked to the back of Rachel and then morphed into a black chair, in which Rachel then took a seat with a smug smile on her face.

He would have gotten angry, shouted and cursed even. But instead, he just stood up and dusted himself before he went over towards both the bunny-leech and Jubei.

"Please, do continue your vitriol about blowing my head off my shoulders." Rachel taunted him, he didn't respond beyond giving her a growl, before he turned towards Jubei. Who was still seated in his cross-legged position, now that he thought about it, how did he do that? Weren't his legs backward-jointed?

He shook his head. That question could be asked later. Right now… "Hey master." He called out to Jubei. Jubei gave him a questioning stare, but a light smirk adorned the old cat's face.

"What is it kid? Had an epiphany?" Jubei asked. He nodded his head to answer, before he raised his right hand and showed it to Jubei.

"How do I turn this thing off?" He asked.

Jubei gave him a small smile, before he coughed. "Repeat after me kid. Restriction number 6-6-6, activate."

"Restriction number 6-6-6, activate." Immediately after he said those words. His right arm began to thrum. He didn't feel anything, the veins and arteries from his right hand didn't blow, nor did his bones creak. But he felt his arm suddenly… simmer down. That's the best description he could use.

He opened and closed his hand as he stared at it. He didn't know if it worked or not and there was only one way to figure out if it did.

"Hah!" He roared as he raised his right hand and threw it forward. Immediately, the seithr that gathered in his center traveled up in his right arm, before it shot itself forward into a sphere. The black sphere collided with a tree a few feet away from them, before its center caved. The tree didn't fall, but now there was a deep furrow right in the center of it.

He blinked at his handiwork, before he looked down at his right arm in wonder. It took him another five seconds to realize that the Ars worked, before he jumped and shouted in joy. "Yes! Now that's what I'm talking about! Woo!"

Fucking hell, so his arm was activated all this time and it was messing with his ability to use the Ars that Jubei gave him. Still though, that thought didn't really stop him from being overjoyed. Fuck yeah! Now he wasn't going to get blown back twenty paces just cause he activated an Ars.

He turned around and was about to give the rabbit a smug smile, but stopped himself as he saw the deep scowl on Rachel's face. Before he could say anything, Rachel turned towards Jubei. "Just how long has that been activated?" Her voice was sharp.

Jubei shrugged his shoulders. "About a week give er take." Wait…

"What do you mean it's been activated for a week?!" He shouted, alarmed at having the Azure Grimoire active for so long.

Jubei sighed, before he stood and shook his head. "Like I said kid. The Azure Grimoire has been active ever since we left that inn. Actually, it's been active ever since ya woke up." Jubei then turned towards Rachel. "Actually, I'm more surprised that you didn't notice Rachel. Given that aside from me and Kokonoe and its maker, ya know more about it then anyone on this planet."

Rachel's scowl deepened. "I have not noticed." Rachel said, a bit put-off by Jubei's words.

"Whoa, hey." He interrupted before either one could say anything more. "What do you mean it's been active? Didn't you just tell me that my arm pumps out seithr? How can you be so damn calm even after knowing that I might have been spreading seithr?"

Jubei shook his head at him. "Don't worry too much about spreadin' seithr kid. It's only dangerous in large doses. Kinda like radiation really. 'Cept with seithr, it can be converted to energy. And besides, the amount of seithr being spread will affect you more than anyone else."

"Are you serious?" He grumbled under his breath as he stared at Jubei. He then crossed his arms and glared at the old cat. "Well, gee. That makes it so much better. Glad you're so worried about me 'master'." He ground out the last part sarcastically.

Jubei just gave him a grin. "Kid, if ya were spewing out dangerous amounts, I would have told you the minute we left that inn. As it stands though, the amount of seithr leavin' yer body wouldn't be able to kill ya. At least, not until yer five-hundred years old."

He scowled, before he turned around and began walking towards the tree he had just carved a furrow in. "Whatever old man. If you need me, I'll just play around with the Ars you gave me." He really didn't want to be in proximity with Jubei right now. He really didn't like being left in the dark about something like this.

'Sides, now that he got the Ars working. He has a week's worth of frustration to work out. He would have felt sorry for the trees in the forest, had it not been for the fact that most of the time he landed with his back against one for the past week.

 **Azure Blade Works**

 **XxX**

She watched as Ragna went off to play with the Ars that Jubei had given him. If she hazarded a guess, she would say that the Ars was some sort of destruction Ars meant for the tearing down of a building. The amount of damage it did suggested that it was meant to be used on pillars rather than for outright destruction of an entire building.

Still… "Is it wise to leave him alone with an Ars like that? Given his current demeanor, I suspect giving him a destructive Ars will more than likely cause nothing short of damage to the surrounding areas."

Jubei just shook as the old cat turned to look at her. "Ehh leave 'em be. The kid's been through hell the past week tryna get that Ars to work. Let 'em blow off some steam."

She let out a harrumph, before she summoned a table with two chairs in front of her. "Valkenhayn." She called. A portal opened right next to the table soon after.

"Yes milady?" She smiled a little at her long-time butler. His face was pock-marketed by scars, some running down his eyes while some across his cheek. But that didn't stop the man looking quite handsome for a being almost as old as he was. And while the green suit didn't wasn't exactly complimenting to his otherwise rugged face, Valkenhayn seemed to make it work by his posture alone.

"I require more tea and perhaps some biscuits as well. I suspect I will be here for awhile." She ordered. Though her wording and her tone seemed pompous, Valkenhayn didn't react beyond just bowing his head at her.

"At once milady." The old butler then turned towards Jubei. "And for you Jubei?"

Jubei in turn, only smiled at the old butler. "Don't worry 'bout me none Valk. I'm fine as is. Great seeing you again though, maybe we can catch up later. Assumin' that I don't have to go and get Ragna 'course. I swear that kid can be more impulsive than you on a full moon."

Had it been anyone else, Valkenhayn would have taken that as an insult and promptly left. As it stood though, both Valkenhayn and Jubei have known each other for years. Thus, any insulting innuendo between them was nothing more than old friends poking fun at each other.

"Perhaps," Valkenhayn began with a small smile on his rugged face. "I'd imagine it would drive you mad however, seeing him so out of control like that." Again, insulting innuendo. But Jubei didn't take it as an insult.

"Hah!" Instead, the old cat smiled and laughed. "Get outta here ya old dog. 'Fer yer master gets impatient with the both of us." Jubei said with a bright smile.

Valkenhayn bowed his head again, before he turned around and a new portal opened. He stepped through it before the portal closed a second later. He would no doubt return, especially since she had just ordered for only tea and biscuits. Perhaps though, he may also be retrieving a jar of sake for Jubei as well.

"I do believe you and Valkenhayn hold the strangest friendship I have ever seen in all my life." She finally said as she turned towards Jubei. Jubei just turned towards her and grinned.

"Ya say that like it's a bad thing." Jubei replied. "'Sides, not like we're really all that weird. At least, compared to you."

She tilted her head ever so slightly as she regarded Jubei with a confused eye. "Whatever do you mean by that?"

Jubei responded by pointing a paw towards the direction where Ragna had slinked off to. "You and him." Jubei retracted his paw and crossed both over his chest. "I believe you and Ragna have the weirdest friendship I've ever seen. Far be it from being weird mind ya, just really outta place."

She frowned. "I do believe we are not on the same page." She responded as she sneered slightly. "How could I possibly be friends with an individual such as that man? He is so uncivilized and so crass that I fear that even the most innocent of people will be corrupted should they ever be in close proximity with one as hateful and unsophisticated as Ragna." The very thought of being friends with someone like that person made her shiver. Should she not be as strong as she was, she honestly would fear for her innocence.

"Haha!" Jubei laughed, hearty and mightily. "See! That's what I mean! You and Ragna, ya can't stop insultin' each other every time yer both near. And even then, ya talk smack about 'im when he's not here. Yet both 'a ya can't seem to have it in yerselves to hate the other. It's funny really."

Her frown deepened. "Had I the choice, I would want nothing more than to leave that insufferable buffoon alone."

"But ya do Rachel." Jubei just smiled at her response. "Ya just can't keep away from 'im."

She was about to reply with something biting, but reigned it in. There… was some measure of truth in what Jubei said. But far be it for her to hold affection for one such as Ragna.

So instead of replying, she just changed the subject. "My relations with Ragna aside. I have another question pertaining to your wayward student." She noticed the transformation of Jubei's smiling and hearty demeanor to something serious and calculating.

"To be completely honest with ya?" Jubei began, apparently knowing what she was going to ask. "I have no idea myself. I've known that the Azure Grimoire had been active fer the past week, but I never detected dangerous amounts of seithr comin' from it. I could still sense that it was spewin' seithr, but it was only in small doses." Jubei explained with a light frown on the feline's face.

She hummed in thought. "Perhaps I have botched the attaching?" It wasn't outside the realms of possibility. She had witnessed – four or five times – that she could in fallible even in attaching the Azure Grimoire to Ragna. Add to the fact that she was never supposed to attach it in the first place, and that Ragna was supposed to be doing that himself, well, one can definitely say that this reset was one of the most unique resets she had witnessed, or in this case, was witnessing because of the arm that now housed the Azure Grimoire.

Jubei shook his head at her. "Nah, ya didn't." Jubei shot down her idea quickly. "The Azure Grimoire will stick to just about anythin' if it wants ta." Jubei then hummed in thought. "I reckon it's that arm that's not attached to his chest that's the reason."

"You mean that arm that came out of that seithr portal?" She asked, her eyebrows raising. Before Jubei could respond however, another black portal opened, and out popped Valkenhayn with a tray with her tea, and a bottle of rice wine for Jubei.

"Thank you Valkenhayn." She thanked her butler as Valkenhayn began to set the teapot down and pour her a cup. "I presume you took the wine from the cellar?"

Valkenhayn nodded his head slightly, just enough for her to see. "Excuse me for doing so milady." Was all the butler said.

She nodded her head back. "Very well, seeing as this is a mild reunion of sorts, I suppose I may overlook your presumptuous behavior." Pompous, but entirely justified. The cellar wasn't hers, it was her father's. She didn't like taking things that belonged to her father and moving them, but she did know that Valkenhayn was acting a bit more sentimental today.

"Your benevolence humbles me milady." Valkenhayn smiled at her, before she took the jar of rice wine and passed it over to Jubei, who was watching the entire situation with a wide smile.

"Gotta say Valk, yer like a dog on a leash whenever Rachel's 'round. Real different then when ya fought with us." Jubei raised the jar and inspected the brand, before he nodded his head and popped the cap off and started drinking from the jar itself.

"I do believe the better term would be, 'As domesticated as a cat with a piece of string'. Because unlike dogs, cats are inclined to play with the first thing dangling in front of them." Despite herself, she couldn't help but give a small imperceptible smile. The weirdest of friends indeed.

"While I do not want to cut short your little reunion, I do believe we have more pressing matters to attend to." She raised her teacup and sipped the contents. Chamomile tea, an appropriate choice given the situation.

"Yer gonna keep repeatin' that if we don't aren't ya?" Jubei grinned at her. She could only sigh and shake her head at Jubei's words.

"I shall repeat myself no matter how long it takes." She defended herself. "Ragna's Azure Grimoire has been active for the better part of a week. I do not like the idea of a portal that leads to the Azure is running amok in a person's arm for a whole week." Technically, it wasn't a portal. But the differences were so minor between a regular portal like the ones she uses, and the Azure Grimoire's ability to take out copious amounts of seithr that there may as well be none.

"Yeah, yeah. I get ya." Jubei raised the jar again, before he downed the entire thing in one go. "Whoo! Now that's a rush. Thanks fer the hospitality Rachel, Valk. Haven't tasted anything that good since I was in Ikaruga."

"Quaint." She drawled as she inwardly winced at Jubei's downing of the alcoholic drink in one go. She then turned towards Valkenhayn. "Valkenhayn, you may take your leave. I shall grant you a reprieve later so you may catch up with Jubei, but for now, I require you to tend to my garden."

Valkenhayn smiled, before he bowed. "At once my lady." Valkenhayn straightened, before he turned towards Jubei and gave him a small smirk. "Jubei, we shall continue this later." And with that, another portal opened behind Valkenhayn. The old butler then turned before he walked inside, disappearing into the murky blackness.

"Heh, old codger's still formal like a son of a bitch… pun intended." Jubei smirked at her. She allowed herself a small smile, before she shook her head.

"What is your opinion on this?" It didn't need to be said what she was referring to. Jubei wasn't as uncouth and wasn't unable to read a situation like Ragna.

"Well, I take it yer worried 'bout the Azure Grimoire going haywire and makin' another Black Beast." Jubei immediately went for the most logical conclusion. And while she couldn't really deny that, her worries are far baser. Not that she would ever admit what she was ever worried about anyway, or much rather who.

"Quite." She sipped her tea, before she reached for the biscuits that Valkenhayn had brought over. She particularly enjoyed these when they were freshly made.

"Well, can't say nothin' cept that ya shouldn't." She paused, the biscuit she was about to bite into just a few inches away from her mouth.

"What?" She put down the biscuit, before she raised a critical eye towards Jubei. Did he just imply that she had nothing to worry about? In all the times the continuum shifted, that was perhaps the very first time she had ever heard him say that about the Azure Grimoire in Ragna's arm.

Jubei sighed before he scratched the back of his feline head with his paw. "Can't really explain why I feel this way Rachel. Just… have a gut feelin' bout this. Somethin' bout the Blazblue… somethin' bout it seems to be holdin' it back. Somethin' big."

She stared at Jubei. What on earth could he be talking about? "You mean that there is a… buffer? In between the Azure Grimoire and the Azure itself?" That was the only way his words could be interpreted. You just don't 'hold back' the Blazblue – the Azure Grimoire – to do so would be utterly impossible and completely suicidal. The Azure in itself was something that could consume entire worlds, and while the Azure Grimoire could hold a partial part of it, it would still be alarming if the Azure Grimoire started to leak seithr from the Azure itself.

But Jubei's words told her that it was in fact impossible. Something was holding back the Azure Grimoire from taking too much from the Azure itself, and it was buffering the amount of Seithr leaking from Ragna's arm – wait – his arm.

"The arm." She said, a bit hushed. Jubei nodded his head at her.

"Bingo." Jubei confirmed with a nod of his head. "I've no idea what kinda arm that is, but somethin' ain't right about it. I can sense… somethin' there. Somethin' big. Somethin' that's been there ever since we put it on Ragna."

She narrowed her eyes at Jubei. "If you have known about this since then, why did you find it prudent to attach that arm instead of me fashioning a gauntlet for him?" Of course, Ragna fashioning himself the gauntlet was out of the question. He had been unconscious during that time, and she had arrived a tad earlier than she probably should have. And although Jubei has reservations about the Azure Grimoire becoming a gauntlet of all things, that didn't change the fact that having an unknown entity's arm housing the Azure Grimoire was anything less dangerous.

"Shit Rachel," Jubei began, huffing a little. "Ya certainly know how to put an old cat on the spot." Jubei then shook his head. "Never mind. The reason I had ya put the Blazblue inside the arm is cause it's not supposed ta be in anything other than somethin' biological. Not everthin' has a soul Rachel, ya should know that. And stickin' somethin' that eats souls fer a livin' in somethin' like a gauntlet just don't click with me."

What Jubei said was certainly true, but… "And you find it better to have an unknown entity's arm housing it instead?" Her voice was accusatory, merely curious. If she respected anyone's insight, it would be Jubei's.

"Rachel." Jubei's voice cut through the air around them. "Tell me honestly. Yer an observer, how many times have you seen this happen?"

She closed her eyes, and let loose a small sigh. "None. The countless times the continuum has shifted, never have I seen this happen before."

Jubei smirked at her words. "Heh, a one in a trillion huh?"

She didn't acknowledge that statement. Instead, she just looked towards the forest where Ragna had disappeared to. "I suppose if the continuum resets once more, it will not be a surprise."

"Sorry Rachel." She turned towards Jubei, who was bowing his head slightly. "Fer puttin' ya through this. But honestly, yer the only one that can. Ever since yer father-"

"If I wanted an apology, I would have asked for it." She cut off the old cat before he could ramble on about her father. "And if I did not want to do this, I would have left you all to rot a long while ago." Her words sounded harsh, but it was the truth. She was an old being, she didn't care about mortal lives, since in the spectrum of things, they were flickers of flames.

" _But that is what's beautiful about them Rachel. A single gust can kill them, erase them. Yet they fight the breeze as though they were also a tree. A burning tree, standing tall and mighty."_

Her father's words. She remembered those words, and she would never forget those words.

"Heh," Jubei chuckled from across the table. He let out a small yawn, before he stood and stretched. "Well, guess I can't change that 'bout you. But you certainly are one of a kind. Yer father'd be proud."

She closed her eyes. I certainly hope so. "I shall see to it that arm is thoroughly researched. I do not much like the thought of the Blazblue being in an unknown person's arm. See to it though, that for the most part, the Azure Grimoire is deactivated. Whatever is it that is buffering the Azure from this world, I fear might manifest in the worst possible way if we do not have the proper knowledge about it."

"Are we leaving yet princess?" Gii spoke from above her. She didn't say anything to the bat, before she stood and let the table and the seats disappear, along with the tea, empty bottle of rice wine, and biscuits. She could eat those later.

She raised her hand, and Nago appeared in it, an umbrella, like she had properly designed him to be. "Goodbye Jubei. We shall meet again soon. See to it that Ragna gets proper training. If need be, be as harsh and as cruel as possible. I believe his small brain cannot get any smaller, lest he really become a Neanderthal."

Jubei turned towards her, and grinned. "Even when he's not here ya spew abuse at 'em." Jubei then turned around and began waving his paw in the air, while strapping his swords behind his back with the other. "See ya Rachel. Be sure to send Valk my way a little later. I really want ta catch up with 'im."

"Indeed." She nodded her head, before she turned. She opened a portal with a flick of her wrist, before she took one last backward glance at the forest behind her. She watched as Jubei walk over towards a tree, all the while rolling his right shoulder. She smiled a little as she watched him grip the tree with one paw, before pulling it off, roots and all.

"Hey kid, ya know what baseball is?" She heard Jubei shout, before he took off in the direction where Ragna had runoff to.

She turned back around, and walked into the portal. Regardless of how many times the continuum shifted and reset. She could never get tired of that.

 **XxX**

"God damn stupid son of a bitch cat." He muttered as he adjusted his sleeping position to something that would not hurt like hell. So far, he had tried sleeping on both sides and on his back, and so far, all it got him was pain. So now he was lying down on his chest, arms stretched out under the pillow he was using in a tent he had to himself for the night. "Stupid asshat. Using my head as a baseball using a friggin tree as a bat."

He continued cursing for the next few minutes. And could you blame him? Really, who the fuck uproots a tree, and then asks you to play baseball with him? Using your _head_ as the ball! It also didn't help that the stupid cat could swing that thing around like it was a fucking toothpick with just one arm.

"Gah!" Shit, his ribs were still sore. But fuck it, this was the most comfortable position he could use. So he'll just have to bear with it for the night.

He wanted so much to just kick the cat when he was asleep, but he had a feeling if he tried that, a tree bat would be the least of his problems. Aside from the obvious discrepancy in their powers however, Jubei had left and told him he'd be back by morning. Something about meeting with a mercenary band about a copy of a Nox Nyctores or something.

Still though, as much of a pain today had been, it was also the most progress he's made in a week. Not only could he use Ars now, his pain tolerance was probably higher now… wait, that wasn't good. Fucking cat.

He closed his eyes and breathed deep. Well, nothing left to do but sleep.

After a few minutes of silence, he felt his consciousness fading. But as soon as he blacked out, his eyes reopened… only to find himself in a familiar wasteland.

"What the fuck?" He spoke as he stood up. Surprisingly, his body didn't hurt, which was weird, since he had been tossing and turning in his bedroll for a while in pain.

He looked around him, and found that it was the same twilight cloudy sky he had seen a week before after he woke up in the inn. "The hell? Why am I in the same dream?"

But then he looked over the horizon, and what he saw made him freeze.

A dark miasma, a black cloud, an abhorrent image was there. A dark, fear inducing _creature_ was there. But it didn't move, even if it looked like it was approaching, looked like it was coming at him at blinding speeds. It seemed so… far.

He took a step back, and then another. Whatever that was, he didn't want it to get close, even if for the time being, it didn't look like it was coming anywhere near him. But as he took a third step back, he felt his back collide with something. He jumped and turned around, only to see a sword jutting out from the ground. A katana, long and silver with a blue handle and blue tassels hanging off its hilt.

"What the-" He felt a sharp pain in his mind. Images flashed, but most of it was jumbled, unintelligible. Like an alien speaking to him, he couldn't understand them. He saw blobs and figures, he saw colors and shapes, but they didn't make sense.

But… there was one thing he did know. One thing that was apparent even in the muddles images that assaulted his head. He reached out, and grasped the hilt, before pulling the katana off the ground. "Yukianesa."

The name of the katana. It was… it was the sword that Jin used on him. He remembered, not from the images assaulting his addled mind, but from his own memories. He observed the blade, and noticed that while it was like silver, it was actually ice. He then noticed the almost invisible wafts of cold that surrounded it.

What was this doin-

A dark feeling encroached upon him. He turned around, and saw the dark figure was now directly behind him, obscuring the light that broke from the clouds.

It was dark, it was formless, it was a shadow, it was a person, it was an animal. It was everything, it was was waswaswaswas

A sudden pull, and then he was on the ground, Yukianesa flying away from his hands before landing blade first into the ground.

He felt another tug, and soon, he was being pulled away, away from the black _thing_ and away from the wasteland. He noticed his vision getting blurry, before everything started to darken. Soon, there was only darkness. But through all this darkness, through his addled mind, a single thought cemented itself into it.

That this world, this infinite wasteland… **Was not his.**

 **XxX**

"Gah!" He woke up in a start, pushing against the floor as he shuffled to his feet.

"Whoa. Kid, relax." As soon as he got on his feet, he heard his master's voice come from behind him. He turned, perhaps a little too fast, but he was still jumpy.

"Wh-what?" He stuttered, before he felt his legs wobble slightly. His legs gave out on him, and soon, he was sprawled on the ground, his breathing still heavy, but significantly slower than when he first woke up. Even his heartbeat was slowing to an acceptable pace. "What happened?"

"Ya were having a bad dream kid. I was 'bout ta wake ya up, but ya gone and woke yerself up before I could." Jubei shrugged at him. "Do ya make it a habit to wake up in a cold sweat once a week er somethin'?"

He took one last deep breath, before he shook his head. "What time is it?" His head was throbbing, never mind the dizziness he was feeling.

"I reckon it's 'bout half past two, maybe two-thirty give or take." Damn, he wouldn't be able to sleep after that dream, and it was still goddamn early as well.

"I'd have thought you'd be gone till morning." He finally said as he settled down. Jubei just stared at him with a slight smile on his face.

"Reckoned that too actually." Jubei agreed with a nod of his head. "Turns out though, they're running late on somethin' and had to leave early. They're traveling right now I'm guessin'." Really? Traveling at this late at night? Must be some special kind of important those mercenaries. And be important, he meant stupid. No one in their right mind would walk around at night with all the mutated seithr poisoned animals running around.

"I know what yer thinking kid," Jubei said with a grin. "Don't worry, they ain't stupid. They know their way around. And with a copy of a Nox Nyctores with 'em, they can probably handle anything comes moseying down their way."

He frowned. "You keep saying copy of a Nox Nyctores." He began as he stared at Jubei. "What does that even mean? I know that there are ten Nox Nyctores that were ever made, but I didn't know you could copy them."

Jubei shrugged his shoulders. "Ya can't. A Nox Nyctores is a special kinda weapon that was designed to kill the Black Beast all those years ago. After the Beast was sealed, those ten weapons turned into formidable weapons against humans." Jubei pulled out one sword from his back. "This sword ya see here? This is Musashi, both of 'em, even the one still strapped on my back. This is a Nox Nyctores."

He observed the rather smallish blade. A nodachi? No, not even a katana. Something shorter. But when Jubei held it, it looked just right for him. He squinted his eyes as he observed the sword, ignoring his splitting headache and dizziness. There was something… weird about the way he was seeing it. He remembered last week he had figured out the exact measurements of the sword, and how he shouldn't have known that. But now that he got a close look at it-

"It can cut through anything?" He blurted out without really thinking. He didn't know what compelled him to ask that question, but… he felt some doubt as to the effectiveness of Musashi and it's statement that it could cut through anything. Wait, how the hell did he know about that anyway?

It seems that even Jubei caught on to what he said. As the old cat's one good eye narrowed slightly as he stared at him. "Yeah… how'd you figure that out kid?"

"If I told you I have no idea, would you believe me?" He asked, not really sure how to go about explaining that the thought just popped into his head. Jubei nodded his head once, and he sighed. "Then I have no idea."

Jubei hummed at his answer. "Well, anyway kid. Good thing ya woke up 'fer I did it for you. We're leaving." He blinked at Jubei's words, before he tilted his head in confusion.

"Leaving? At this time of night?" Okay, he knew that Jubei was a slave driver, but he never thought he'd be this much of one. Last he recalled, Jubei didn't like being woken up. Last time he tried, Jubei had clawed his face.

Jubei nodded his head. "I'll give ya a few minutes, thirty tops just to clear yer head and get that dizziness and headache gone. But after that, we're movin'."

He frowned at Jubei's explanation. "Uh huh. Yeah, and tell me. Just where do we go?" His tone was sarcastic and slightly biting, and as much as he wanted to blame his headache and dizziness on that, he knew that was what he would have said regardless.

"We're goin' after that mercenary camp. Don't know how or why, but they managed ta make a working copy of Musashi." He blanched at those words.

"Wait, wait, wait!" He said hastily. "You mean some random mercenary band actually managed to make a working copy of a Nox Nyctores?"

Jubei scratched the back of his head with a paw. "Well, can't say that they're just a _random_ band of misfits. But when ya put it that way…"

He groaned. "Great! Just what we need, _another_ sword that can cut through anything."

"Actually kid," Jubei interrupted him. "It ain't a sword. It's a gauntlet, a two pair gauntlet." Jubei explained, making him frown in confusion.

"Then how the hell does a pair of gauntlets count as a copy of your Nox Nyctores?" He questioned, disbelief in his tone.

Jubei, in reply, just shrugged. "It copies the basic rules of Musashi, 'cept fer the fact that instead'a cutting through things, it breaks things."

"Well… shit." He summed up his thoughts in two words that were probably the most apt given the revelation.

"Exactly. Now, if you can spend yer time debatin' with me instead'a restin, then maybe we should just hea-"

He interrupted Jubei before he could finish. "No, no. I'll take that thirty minute break. My head still feels like it was hit by a freaking tree. Oh wait, it _was_ hit by a freaking tree." He glared at Jubei, who only grinned at him. The grin only got him even more riled up.

"Whatever." He sighed as he stood up. "I'll walk around a bit. Don't wanna lie down when I'm dizzy and with a splitting headache, might be a concussion or something." He remembered the lessons the old sister told him about injuries. Particularly about concussions.

"Smart kid." Apparently Jubei knew that falling asleep with a concussion might do more harm than good as well. "Alright kid, I'll be here. Come back in thirty minutes tops. I don't wanna leave that copy alone without trainin' the owner."

He sighed as he stood up. "Yeah, yeah." He muttered as he stepped out of the tent. "Stupid slave driver of a cat."

 **XxX**

He watched as Ragna exited the tent, he was used to his mannerisms already. And had it not been for the fact that he didn't care for formality at all, he probably would have taken all the kid's insults to him more seriously.

As it stood though, he liked the kid. Very honest.

"Still…" His eyes trailed towards Ragna's bed. He remembered what happened when Ragna was coiling around in his sleep. He remembered the sounds he was making, as pathetic as they were. And the things he was saying.

But most of all, he remembered seeing a faint silhouette of something appearing in his hands as he spoke. "Yukianesa huh?" He repeated the name of one of the ten Nox Nyctores. And if memory served him right, that something that was appearing in Ragna's hand was definitely Yukianesa. He knew because there was only the handle with the tassels attached to it that the faint shadow was forming into. Yukianesa never really had a blade, and only had one when it was pulled out of it's sheathe.

He closed his eyes and let out a small sigh. Honestly, he would have dismissed that phenomena as something an abnormality caused by the Azure Grimoire in his right arm. But as it stood, there was just no way it came from that. The Azure Grimoire, while useful when using Ars Magus, couldn't create anything except for destruction.

Add to the fact he detected a bit of magic… "That arm'a yers…" He spoke to himself as he remembered the time Mushashi _didn't_ cut something. Whatever or whoever that arm belongs to, it was something that could use magic.

"Damn." He muttered aloud as he shook his head. He could teach Ragna about the Azure, about his Grimoire, and about Ars Magus and the sciences. But the one thing he could never teach him was anything relating to magic. He was never any good with all that hocus pocus stuff, that was more Nine's category anyway. And he doubted Kokonoe would be any better than him. That girl rejects it like it was some sorta virus.

No, he couldn't help Ragna with that arm. Maybe Rachel could, but he doubted the kid could stand her being a teacher for long. No, he needed something or someone to teach Ragna about magic. He couldn't rightly leave him with an ability as useful as using magic and leave it to rot.

He shook his head. Well, no point in thinking about this now. He still had a lot more things to teach Ragna. He'd find a way to get the kid to use magic, just not now. Maybe in a few years, when's he's older and perfected everything he could teach the kid, he'd send 'im over to Kokonoe to figure out where he can learn magic.

Right now though, he had a mercenary band to catch up to. No way in hell was he leaving that gauntlet alone without teaching the person using it how to properly use it… Come to think of it, Yukianesa was forming in Ragna's hand, so did that mean…

He shook his head. No time to think about it now. He'd best pack up here and get going. Cutting through things was one way of killing something, but breaking things? Unless you know what you're breaking, you might as well just torture your opponent.

 **XxX**

 **Done. Woot!**

 **Hmm. I'm honestly 50/50 on this chapter. On the one hand, it could be considered an info dump. But on the other, most of you (I'm guessing) have never had an experience with Blazblue. So I'm trying to make it so that you guys know what I'm talking about when I write things.**

 **Aside from that, we get an idea of what Ragna's Azure Grimoire can do. But we also see that something is interfering with how he can use it and when it's activated. How does this translate to the future and when's he's fighting? Well, I'd tell ya, but then I'd have ta kill ya.**

 **And fun fact. Jubei is hella fun to write. Also, how did you guys like the interactions between Valkenhayn and Jubei? I'll allow a small spoiler here, and say that Valkenhayn's last name is Hellsing. That should give you an idea of what kind of being Valkenhayn really is.**

 **Next chapter should be another small time skip. Simply because trying to catch up to a roving band of mercenaries can be a little harder when you're walking through the forests with mutated animals.**

 **Anyway, this was both fun and taxing to write, so I hoped you guys enjoy my hard work! Because damn am I feeling refreshed as fuck even though it's 2am here.**

 **C.O.Y.L out, peace!**


	4. Maturity(?)

**Disclaimer: I put this up because it's now a habit. Nothing wrong with that, unless you find reading a single or double line of text annoying. In any case, I own nothing.**

 **Blame Gregor from FE:A about D's mock accent.**

 **Little tidbit, E.g is "For Example." I.E, is for "That is." A lot of people mistake those two for the other. An example E.g would be "There are many countries in the world. E.G, Germany, Philippines, U.S.A." And for I.E, "You need to meet your quota for exercising. I.E, three to five times every week."**

 **And that concludes your grammar lesson for the day.**

 **XxX**

"This is fucking ridiculous!" He shouted as he ducked another swipe. He actually felt some of his hair fall off the top of his head, and knew that if he hadn't ducked in time, he would have likely been beheaded.

"Quit yer whinin' kid. It's just a coupl'a dogs." Jubei shouted from behind him. He would have growled, but the three seithr-infused dogs that were circling him was doing it for him.

"Easy for you to say! You have swor-" He didn't finish his sentence as he rolled to his left, barely avoiding another pounce that got _way_ too close to his right arm. Damn it, he was not getting it cut-off again by some seithr muddled mutt!

"This would be easier if you just throw me a freakin' bone!" He shouted towards his teacher. He steadied himself, before he charged forward and threw a right hook straight to the slobbering jaw of one of mutts.

All it did was made him recoil his hand in pain. Damn it, it was hard as rock too! What kind of freak of nature was this?!

"Wouldn't try that again kid." His teacher supplied helpfully. "Those things been under seithr poisoning for too long. Reckon it's seeped into their skin and made it as hard as rock. I reckon you'd have a snowball's chance in hell if you took them on with yer hands."

"Then why don't you-" He ducked another swipe, backpedaling as much as he could. "Throw me-" He rolled forward, before he swept his legs on the ground, taking the second dog's legs out from under itself. "A freaking weapon you old coot!" He slid on the ground, right between the legs of the last dog. He recoiled both of his knees to chest, before he raised both of his arms over his head and pushed against the ground he was sliding on, extending both legs as he did so.

This caused the dog to let out a sound that may or may not have sounded like a whine. He couldn't tell thanks to the muddled way these things were barking. Heck, he was half-impressed by himself he could actually see them in this dark forest. If there hadn't been sunlight pushing through the trees, he doubted he could have seen these things until they were right on top of him.

Then again, their glowing red eyes and black smoking bodies did give them away.

As he landed on the ground, he watched the seithr-infused dog land a few feet away from where he landed. He felt a grin appearing on his face, until Jubei had to ruin it for him.

"Don't get cocky kid!" He turned around just in time to see obsidian claws already in the air, ready to skewer him from the side.

"Fucking-" He tried to dodge, to move, to try and avoid the incoming claws that would run him through. But he knew he wasn't going to be fast enough. The claws were too fast, too close to him to be able to do anything. If he had a weapon, a sword, staff, spear, anything. Then maybe he could have done something, as it stood though, he closed his eyes and awaited his fate.

He imagined feeling the claws sink into his chest, followed by the bite to the neck that most canines did when subduing their prey. He waited for a second, and then two, before he finally opened his eyes to see Jubei standing in front of him, Musashi drawn and dripping blood. In front of his teacher, he saw the hound, whining and already dissolving into black mist as per most things tainted by the seithr as they died.

"Don't just close yer eyes and let death take ya kid," Jubei began as he slung the weapon over his shoulder. It looked ridiculous, since it was so long and he was so short. Yet at the same time, he couldn't help but feel awed at how casually he used it. "Next time ya see death approachin', ya look it in the eye and give it the finger. Then ya can die, knowing ya didn't go down without at least sticking one in its face."

His teacher's words reassured him, yet at the same time, he felt that they were… "That's messed up old man." He smirked. To which Jubei replied with his own smirk.

Jubei removed the sword from his shoulder, before he waved his paw at him. "Yeah, yeah. Call me messed up all ya want, but take it from the guy that had to watch death take friend and foe alike. Ya don't want something like that taking you down without at least making sure it remembered ya." Jubei shrugged, before he jumped up. "Death's neutral that way."

He watched as his teacher landed on a tree branch, but before he could say anything, Jubei spoke up again. "Now, take care of the last two."

He looked to his left, and then to his right. He saw both dogs that he had managed to kick prowling around him, growling as they did so. "Damn it, stay down!"

The funny thing is, he knew these things weren't wolves. They were typical dogs turned into some kind of weird monster thing thanks to the seithr. Wolves stayed by the edges of the mountains, or in heavily seithr concentrated areas. They were currently in a flatland, bordering close to an area that has enough seithr to contaminate domesticated animals, but not enough to turn flora or humans into something… weird.

He charged forward, readying his arm to throw a punch straight into whatever body part that wasn't its mouth. But a sudden blur that dashed past him beat him to the punch. Quite literally.

A teenage girl, probably a year or two older than him, threw a straight right into one of the canine's mouths. It slipped right in between the jaws, punching straight through the teeth and causing the thing to let out a whine in pain, before it suddenly seemed to… burst.

Splatters of ichorous blood burst from the body, splashing itself all around the general vicinity, before they started to dissolve into wisps of black smoke. The girl had stayed in her position, arm outstretched and one leg bent backwards, and didn't seem fazed that most of the blood had gotten on her.

He was about to call out to her, but noticed that the other canine hadn't stayed put. It seemed to recognize the new threat, and reacted the only way it knew how. It charged.

"Hey!" He ran, moving to intercept the thing before it got to the girl, who for some strange reason, wasn't budging from her position. "Damn it move!" He shouted, but either the girl didn't hear it, or she was trying way too fucking hard to look cool.

Thankfully, he managed to meet the canine halfway from the girl by running at an angle. He braced himself, before he bent his body and full body tackled the beast right before it lunged. Unfortunately for him, his tackle wasn't the best, and soon he was rolling on the ground with the canine digging its claws every which way as they did so.

They stopped in an unfavorable position for him, with the canine on top of him, he didn't have any leverage and was subject to probably getting his face chewed off by the thing's teeth.

Sure enough, the mouth came for his face. He managed to raise his hands in time just to hold the things mouth open, before he started pushing back. Flecks of black drool dripped on his face, and some weird steam seemed to come out of the canine's mouth.

"Damn does your breath stink!" He blamed Jubei for this. He should have been scared shitless, what with the jaws of literal death right in front of him. But thanks to his teacher's rousing speech about giving death the finger, he just didn't care anymore. He did however, want one thing.

"Shut up!" Changing his grip on the things jaws, he managed to forcefully close them before he yanked on the snout and pulled the thing over his head. It let out a whine before it rolled, but he didn't give it the time to rest as he was already getting up. Just as the thing stopped rolling, he was already in front of it, foot raised behind him ready to kick the crap out of its face.

"Good night loser!" He threw his right foot forward with all his strength, and was rewarded with the satisfying sound of bone crunching as the neck of the canine twisted. He knew it wasn't getting up from that one.

"Ha! Take tha- guh!" He hunched over and grabbed his right foot. God damn it! It hurt like hell! Jubei wasn't joking when he said those things turn as hard as rock! He was amazed he didn't break his own damn foot for trying something so stupid.

He managed to get his hurt foot under control, before he turned back towards the downed dog. He smiled as he saw the pup start turning into a black mist, before the remnants of the body began to seep into the ground. Satisfied that he had at least managed to kill one, he turned around to meet the girl that had-

Why the fuck was she still in that position?

"Hey, the things are dead now." He called out as he stood up and began approaching. Thankfully, his foot didn't hurt anymore. When no response came from the girl, he looked towards Jubei, and saw that instead of his typical cryptic smile that made him want to punch him, there was a disappointed frown on his face.

"In my defense, I was gonna take care of them both." He defended himself. He would have, really he would have. But the girl took the matter out of his hands by suddenly punching one of the things and, for all intents and purposes, made it explode. And then she suddenly went still, what's up with that?

Jubei gave him an incredulous look. "What? No." The cat shook his head. "Don't go sayin' stuff like that. Makes ya sound like a self-centered kid."

He crossed his arms as Jubei walked closer to the girl, who _still_ hadn't moved from her position. "Then what's with the frown and glare? Is it about the girl? Do you know her?"

"Know her?" Jubei began, a hint of amusement in his voice. "She's the one that has the copy of Musashi strapped around her arms."

Wait. " _She's_ the one we've been looking for?" He pointed a finger at the girl. He would also still like to point out she still hadn't moved. "The one we've been moving through forests and trudging through mountainous terrain to catch up to? The one we've been fighting seithr-infused squirrels, dogs, and cats for? She's the one we've been looking for?"

Jubei nodded his head. "Technically, I've been the one doin' the fightin'. I only allowed ya ta fight those three cause I wanted ta see what ya learned just from watchin' me." He then turned towards the girl, before a smile appeared on his face. "Yo Bullet." Jubei addressed the girl – what kinda name was Bullet? – as he walked towards her front. "I see ya didn't take my pointers to heart."

He approached the duo, and for a brief second, he thought he heard mumbling. It wasn't Jubei, so he assumed it was Bullet who was doing the mumbling.

"Wha's at now?" Jubei began, putting a paw to his ear and cupping it. "Can't hear ya if ya don't speak up." He detected a faint hint of amusement in Jubei's voice, and knew that he was being this way on purpose.

He had to admit, seeing someone else on the receiving end of all of his teacher's bullshit tendencies was refreshing.

"I said," He heard Bullet begin. Her voice was deeper than most girls' voice he had heard before. "I put too much power into it."

Jubei straightened himself, a knowing smirk on his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Bullet. At this point, he was right next to his teacher, and saw for the first time what Bullet looked like.

Brownish skin, slightly blonde turning white hair, bulging forearm, biceps, and triceps muscles that seemed to fit her body type just fine. He had to admit, she was… different than most girls he had seen. Exotic in a way that almost made her pretty.

Keyword almost. She was exotic and it looked like she could handle herself in a fight. But the almost killer – he meant that literally – expression on her face told him that she would rather strip naked than be seen wearing a dress or makeup.

"And what warning did I give ya when I last visited?" Jubei began again, a mischievous grin appearing on his face as he stared at the still unmoving Bullet.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Bullet demanded. Her eyes locking with Jubei's, before turning towards him. "How about you? You going to help me?" Her voice told him it was a demand, rather than a question.

He scoffed. Demanding things from him got anyone nowhere. "I ain't touching you with a ten-foot pole if you talk like that to me."

He heard Bullet grumble. "I helped you didn't I?" Her eyes narrowed as she locked eyes with him.

"Yeah, and I saved you from getting eviscerated right after." He countered. The hell? Did this bitch think he owed her a favor after just stopping like that in the middle of a fight? He paid that in full when he tackled and beat the crap out of that dog when she was the one being targeted.

The girl seemed surprised at his answer, before her eyes turned towards Jubei, who nodded his head at her. "I see." Bullet said, her eyes then turned towards him, and she closed them. "You have my thanks."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. "What, just like that?" He couldn't stop himself from asking. He thought she would be more skeptical, or at least be more antagonistic about it, but hey, if she was willing to be nice about it…

"Thanks too, I guess." He scratched the back of his head. Let it be known that he wasn't one to be civil. But if you really piss him off, then civil or not, he ain't taking crap from you.

A long silence stretched, and it occurred to him that Bullet still hadn't moved from her position. He turned back towards Jubei, but saw that the cat had his eyes closed and was humming a tune he didn't recognize. He sighed before he turned back towards Bullet. "So, are you still scared stiff or are you planning on moving sometime this week?" He asked. He wasn't one for conversation, especially to someone he barely knew and had no idea if he should be pissed off to, or amicable to.

"I'm not scared!" Bullet barked at him. He raised both hands in the air in a placating gesture.

"Whoa! Chill! No need to get your… shorts in a knot." Seriously? Now that he got a better look of her, he realized that the only thing decent she was wearing was the black hoodie on her torso. Her lower parts were only covered by short-shorts. And he said generously. Honestly, those things didn't look comfortable if she wore underwear at all!

Now he felt blood rushing to his ears. Oh geez, was he thinking if she had underwear under those shorts? He wasn't raised like this!

"Don't look at me like that pervert!" Apparently, his blushing face wasn't missed by the girl, as she now had a murderous look on her face that told him that the moment that she moved, it would towards him with her fists.

"It's not my fault damn it!" He blurted out without really thinking. "Don't wear stuff like that! It leaves… too much to the imagination." He ducked his head and scratched the back of his head. Did he just admit that he was fantasizing about her? Gah! If he ever saw the Sister in whatever the hell afterlife there was, he was sure he was going to get a good scolding.

"What did-" Bullet began, but he held up a hand to stop her from screaming at him.

"Look," He began, looking up from the ground to lock eyes with the girl. "I'm sorry about… all that. I've been raised better, and I know I shouldn't be thinking about _those_ kind of things. But… shit, alright. I got no excuse. I'm a guy." He finished lamely, which caused Bullet's expression – which had been steadily getting better and better – to turn into one of murder again.

Before he could salvage the situation, Jubei finally spoke up. "I think what my student meant to say," Jubei began, an amused tone evident in his voice as the cat looked towards him. It irked him that Jubei was enjoying him squirming. "Was that yer a pretty girl, and he can't help but shut up and stare. I mean, ya did save him and all, sorta like his very own guardian angel."

…

…

…

That was _totally_ not what he was going to say. Damn it old man! Don't say stuff like that! It could be misinterpreted!

But before he could say anything, anything at all to salvage the shitty situation Jubei had thrown him in, Jubei was already talking again. "Anyway. Ya alone 'ere Bullet? Or is-"

"D's set up camp in the forest." Bullet answered, cutting off Jubei before he could finish his question. "I was actually patrolling the perimeter when I saw him," Bullet's eyes moved towards him, before they locked back towards Jubei. "Fighting two dogs infused with seithr."

"That's also when ya decided ya would use all yer power to try and make the grandest damn entrance ya possibly could." Jubei's voice turned into one of bemusement, which was confirmed by him shaking his head at Bullet. "Next time ya decide to save someone, make sure ya aren't the one that turns into a person that needs to be saved. Makes ya more a liability than anything else."

Bullet let out a sigh, before she closed her eyes and nodded her head. "Yeah. I get it. Make sure you know how to save yourself first before you save someone else. Idiots that do the opposite don't live too long, as well as the people they're saving." Something about Bullet's statement didn't sit right with him. He didn't know why, but some part of him seemed to be struggling with what Bullet said, as if it disagreed with her words and objected them. It was honestly weird, so he tried his best to ignore the feeling. Thankfully, it was gone soon after Bullet nodded again.

Wait… Bullet was nodding now?

"Hey, you're moving your head." He pointed out. Bullet looked at him in confusion, before she craned her neck, eliciting a clicking sound that came with it.

"Huh, I guess I am." Was all Bullet said before she started to flex her fingers. The gauntlets around her hands clacked together as she tapped each finger with her thumb.

"Guess the overheat is wearin' off." Jubei spoke up, a grin on his face as he stared at Bullet as she steadily regained control of her body. "Took long enough. Any longer and I'd be tempted ta just up and leave ya here."

He wanted to say he was joking. But he knew better. When Jubei said something, he almost always means it. The last time he didn't take him seriously, he threw a freaking tree at him. No bullshitting here. He literally ripped up a tree with his bare paws and chucked it at him. Telling him that it was good practice for dodging large things coming at him at the speeds that made most baseball pitchers jealous.

Needless to say, he had to learn how to dodge fast or he'd be nothing more than a splatter on the ground.

Bullet straightened herself, before she to roll her shoulders, eliciting a pop for each arm as she did so. "If you're looking for D himself, you'll have to wait. He's busy seeing the boss."

Wait, now he was confused. "Wait, from what I put together, I thought D was the boss." Hadn't Bullet said it was D's camp? So if this D person wasn't the boss, then who the hell is it and why the hell did they name a camp after their lackey?

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle," Jubei said, chuckling as he finished. "Yer telling me that she's here?" Jubei asked Bullet, who merely nodded her head at the old cat.

"Alright okay," He spoke, garnering both of their attention. "I kinda get you guys know who and what you're talking about. But can you possibly throw a bone to a guy that has no context whatsoever in this conversation? So that I can understand just a _teeny_ tiny bit?" He bit out sarcastically. Geez, keep talking like he wasn't there why don't they?

"Heh, don't you worry kid." Jubei said as he turned back towards Bullet. "You'll understand soon enough once ya see her again." Jubei nodded his head at Bullet. "Now, ya mind leading us to yer camp?"

With Jubei's cryptic words and questions about Bullet and her gauntlets still in his mind. He followed Jubei and Bullet as they made their way towards where they had apparently set up shop.

Damn it old man. Stop with all this cryptic bullshit!

 **Azure Blade Works**

 **XxX**

"D offers 30 million for chains." She sighed before she took a bite out of her sucker. She didn't care if it was unhealthy for her teeth and gums, she wouldn't be able to find a dentist to fix these damn things anyway. She was practically half-cat half-human. What kind of dentist studied both feline and human teeth and does operations for both?

"Told you, they aren't for sale. Get that through your thick skull." She countered as she crossed her arms, rattling the chains wrapped around her torso. She wasn't about to let these things out of her sight until she figured out what made these things so damn… weird. Sure it was uncomfortable sleeping with chains wrapped around her torso and back, but it was better than leaving it where it could possibly get stolen.

"Don't bother D. She's more attached to those things than they are, and they're wrapped around her small chest." She felt annoyance at hearing those words, and turned her attention towards the one that spoke them.

"I'm sorry Tager, mind repeating what you just said?" She asked nicely. With a hint of warning and death in her voice.

"I was merely making a comparison. Compared to my chest, yours is a bit… lacking." The red-giant said, pushing his glasses up until they hid his eyes under the glare of the light.

She was having none of it and threw the nearest chair at him.

The chair collided with the giant's chest, before it burst into a thousand different pieces. D's sigh of exasperation was heard soon after. "Do not be breaking D's furniture! We still have long way before next city!"

Her response was to take the other chair next to her and throwing it at D himself.

"Whoa!" D ducked under the chair, before it collided with the tent's cloth wall, ripping at hole in it and allowing the passers by outside to take a look inside to see what had just thrown a chair through the tent. "Why! D now has hole in tent! Bad for D's warmth!"

"Learn to sew you bastard!" She replied before she sat down on her own chair and spit out the stick of her previous sucker. "And before you pull out another offer, I'm going to repeat myself. They. Are. Not. For. Sale." She emphasized the not for sale part. D was about as hard-headed as Tager's own body sometimes. And it honestly grated on her nerves.

"Then if you not here for sale. What you here for? Aside from wasting D's time." D asked her. She smirked as she pulled out the briefcase she had come into the camp with.

"Where's Bullet? I got an upgrade for the little shit's gauntlets." She meant no harm in her calling that girl a little shit. She just liked calling people little shit's. Like that kid that Jubei had asked her to help. He was a little shit. Also Jubei himself, he was also a little shit.

"Then why you not telling this before?" D sighed before he shook his head. "Bullet is on patrol. She making sure that nothing bad come here and take all of D's stuff."

Her response was to throw her feet up on the table and lean her chair back while putting her hands behind her head. "Alright, guess we'll wait."

To her satisfaction, D let out a sigh. "You not leaving yet?" He asked, his eyes turning towards her, before he shook his head and turned towards Tager.

Tager crossed his arms over his chest before he answered. "Unfortunately, when she gets like this, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do to persuade her."

"And don't forget it." She added as she smiled smugly at Tager. Was it vindictive of her? Yes it was. Was it satisfying to know you were in power? Extremely so.

Don't get her wrong, it wasn't a god-complex or anything like that. She just liked being the one people answered to.

"That personality of yers will be the death of ya someday." She blinked as a familiar voice spoke up. She looked towards the hole she had made, and found the only person she knew that had that voice and way of talking. She immediately straightened herself, before she narrowed her eyes at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest as she sat on her chair.

Jubei replied by jumping through the hole she had made before approaching the table where she had been talking with D with. "Came ta talk with D and Bullet. Same as you."

"Jubei!" D shouted with a jovial tone. "What does D owe the pleasure for company?" She rolled her eyes. She had almost forgotten, D really, _really_ liked Jubei.

Jubei let out a laugh, before he motioned towards the hole she had made. They all turned towards it, and saw two teens looking through it.

"What the- What's she doing here?" The one on the left spoke, confused as his different colored eyes locking onto her form immediately.

She had to admit, she was flattered. "Usually, they notice Tager first." She smirked as she jabbed a thumb towards Tager's direction. "And while I appreciate that you have a crush on me, I'm afraid you're way too young for me."

The kid's eyes followed her thumb, and she was satisfied as his eyes widened at seeing the wall of a man – robot/man actually – that was crimson in color. "Holy shi-"

"Boss." Before the kid could get out his word, the other one, the one she had been looking for, spoke up and nodded at her before turning towards D. "Sorry for interrupting D. These guys wanted to see you about something."

"Is fine, is fine!" D said, a smile on his face as he looked over towards the Ragna kid. "I take it this one is yours?" D asked as he looked towards Jubei.

Jubei let out a laugh at those words. "Not in a million years." Jubei shook his head as he finished laughing. "I'm just taking an apprentice. That kid ain't mine. If he was, he'd be more polite."

Ragna seemed to finally snap out of his thoughts as he looked at Jubei and glared. Huh, what did you know? She was starting to like him. "If I was your kid, I'd turn out as a weird controlling cat person." And with those words, any sort of positive regard she had of the kid was thrown out the window.

She wasn't weird.

"As interesting as this is, I'm afraid the reason I was waiting in this tent has appeared." She stood and walked towards the hole she had made. "Let's go Bullet."

With that, she grabbed Bullet's hands and walked out through the hole she had made. She may have also possibly ripped the hole bigger, but hey, it would be good practice for D to start sewing.

"Uhh, Kokonoe?" She turned around and saw Tager poking his face through the hole. "I can't fit here."

She shrugged her shoulders before she turned back around and kept walking with Bullet right beside her. "Find your own way then." She didn't have time to worry about small crap like that.

 **XxX**

"Uhh." He managed to say as he watched as the red-giant man literally walked through the tent. Creating a larger hole than the previous one. He looked at the giant walking away, before he looked inside the tent towards his teacher. "What just happened?" No seriously, what just happened there?

In response to his question, Jubei only waved a dismissive hand at him. "Don't even bother trying to find out. The more ya try to, the more yer bound to become more confused." Jubei then gestured for him to come forward. "Come'ere and let me introduce a friend'a mine."

He scratched the back of his head, before he stepped through the… new door that had been made progressively bigger. He walked until he was right next to Jubei, before he turned towards the man he could only assume was D. "Err, hi." He tried to break the ice.

D was a rather tall man, probably a six-footer, but sitting on a chair kind of skewed it. His hair was short and light blond, almost platinum actually, a very… pretty color no doubt. It would have been prettier if the face didn't look so gruff. Scars pockmarketed both of his cheeks, one was an X-cross on his left, while on his right was just a single line running from eye towards lower jaw. It was deep, which explained why the man only had one eye open. Though that also begged the question why he just didn't wear an eyepatch. He had a single longsword strapped to his back, with a buckler attached to his right forearm.

The sword itself wasn't anything odd. It was made of steel, with a leather handle that was well oiled with usage. It was almost four and a half feet in length, and weighed-

He shook his head. Why the hell did he know all this shit about a sword he just saw?

D seemed to notice him shaking his head, but seemed to ignore it, nodding his head instead. "You were right." He spoke towards Jubei. "Kid not yours. If was, he be more like woman."

He felt annoyed at the analogy. "No way in hell will I be like that hag." He crossed his arms over his chest before turning a glare towards D. "And what the hell kinda broken accent is that? Can't you speak proper English?"

Instead of getting annoyed like he thought D would be, D only let out a hearty laugh. "It's a Russian accent." He spoke clearly and straightly, bewildering him at the sudden change in manner of speaking. But before he could ask about it, D only raised a finger to his lips. "It good for throwing off clients. Make them think D can't negotiate." And once again, he was back with talking as if he belonged in an English class.

"Ya coulda picked a less insulting way of talking couldn't you? At least, pick somethin' that doesn't stereotype Russians." Jubei spoke, a bit of mirth in his voice.

D turned towards Jubei and smiled widely. "Is good for confusion yes? Make people think D is weird; make them think D isn't good negotiator. Many unsuspecting men and women fall before D's silver tongue." D's smile then turned into a mischievous smirk. "Besides, who still thinks Russia exists?"

He was confused. "Okay, what the fuck is a Russia and a Russian?" He finally spoke. Annoyed that he wasn't getting any of what Jubei and D were talking about.

And again, he was dismissed with a wave of Jubei's paw. "Old world stuff yer too young to possibly know about. I'd be surprised though, if ya know a bit of historical geography. Did that Sister of yers ever teach ya about that?"

He scowled as he tried to remember. Now that he thought about it, she did try and teach them about world history. Something about nuclear bombs and a country called China and USA. Nothing about a country called Russia though.

"From the look on yer face, I take it she did teach ya." Jubei interrupted his train of thought. But before he could explain, Jubei only waved his hand at him. "Don't worry. I won't harp on about why you shoulda listened to her. 'Sides, it's not exactly important in the world today. It'll just be nice fer ya to know how the world was before it went all crappy-like with the Black Beast."

Jubei then turned towards D again. "Anyway, I came here cause I wanted ta speak about Bullet. Particularly about her usage of those gauntlets a hers."

"You finding something weird about her using them?" D asked, raising a blond eyebrow at Jubei's question.

"When we got close to yer camp, she saved Ragna here from getting bit into by a feral dog." Jubei gestured towards him. Causing him to scowl and let out a low growl.

"I had it under control!" He defended himself. "I woulda kicked the thing away, but she managed to make it… explode before I could! And those things weren't feral dogs! Those things were seithr-infused dogs! Big difference there!"

"Poh-ta-to, pa-ta-to. The small things kid. Don't be pedantic enough to notice them." Jubei countered, a smile on his face as he said so.

"I can be pedantic about it as much as I want! It was my damn life on the line!" He countered. And though he did not know what pedantic meant, he assumed that he had the right to be as pedantic as he could.

Jubei only laughed at him, before he turned back to D. "Anyway. After she _interrupted_ Ragna from _kicking_ the _seithr-infused dog_ -"

"You're doing this on purpose aren't you?" He asked, a twitch developing in his eye muscles.

"Don't interrupt kid." Jubei admonished him, a serious look on his face. He sighed, before he inclined his head. He did not want to deal with an annoyed Jubei.

"As I was sayin'. After Bullet went all gung-ho and managed to make a dog explode, she stopped." Jubei said, making D shake his head.

"I told girl! Do not be using too much power! Is bad for health!" D shouted to no one in particularly. A disappointed tone evident in his voice.

"Not fer health D. It's bad fer her life. What good is being healthy if at the first sign 'a trouble, ya go and throw it away?" Jubei admonished the… what was D again? A mercenary? A merchant? Did he even say?

"D knows this." D said as he nodded his head. "But am not Bullet's keeper. She insists on listening only to herself, with leeway when I suggest what to do." D then shook his head as if remembering something exasperating. "Bullet listens only to strength, and while I am no slouch with sword. She simply breaks through them every time I try and discipline her."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that she beats you every time you want her to listen?" He asked, honest surprised in his voice. Seriously? Why couldn't he have had someone like D instead of Jubei. It would make his life a hell of a lot easier.

Not that he was complaining with what Jubei was teaching him, but hey, you can only have too many trees to the head before you start to think "I want a different teacher."

D turned towards him and nodded his head. "Those gauntlets of hers. She liberally uses them whenever she's annoyed." He scratched his head. He understood the whole 'Smash the thing that annoys you until it goes away' mentally. But honestly, he tried to avoid it. The sister had told him that it was equivalent to an adult throwing a temper tantrum.

"So she's a spoiled brat." He said bluntly as he crossed his arms. That was the kind of vibe he had been getting when he first met her actually.

D let out another laugh. "Close." He said as he stopped laughing. "She's not above saying sorry. But she has moments. Moments of wanting to get her way. And if she can't, she smashes."

"Why're you so interested kid?" Jubei asked, his voice directed at him. He turned towards his master, and instead of seeing a smirk or a smile or anything that could constitute he was thinking something _far_ from what he wanted. Jubei was instead just looking at him curiously.

He sighed before he uncrossed his arms. "She just reminds me of…" Jin. He wanted to say Jin, but found the name stuck in his throat. So instead of completing the sentence, he sighed before he shook his head. "Nothing." He then turned towards the hole/door before he began walking towards it. "If you don't mind, I'll take a look around."

It wasn't a request, or asking for permission. He didn't stop even as Jubei called out to him, he wouldn't stop even if he shouted. He just… he now had Jin and Saya on his mind again.

 **XxX**

"Damn it kid." He cursed under his breath as he watched his student walk out the tent like his life had just been sucked out. He kept forgetting that even though Ragna was a bit precocious, he was still a kid. A kid that had lost his arm because his brother had cut it off. A kid that watched as the only home he had ever known, and the only caretaker that had ever taken care of him both burned to the ground.

Maybe he shouldn't have come here. Maybe he should have just gotten Blood Edge from the burnt remains of the Church one night and gave it to him. But… he wasn't convinced he was ready for it yet.

Don't get him wrong. Ragna was a natural with swords. He had tried giving him a practice run. A little sparring session between both him and the kid. Nothing too fancy, and only using wooden swords.

The runt had surprised him by managing to block five strikes consecutively.

True, he had been holding back. But it wasn't the case of he was as weak as Ragna. No, it was the case of Ragna was as good as he was when holding back.

Every time he struck, he was already moving to block. The first strike he thought was a fluke, the second one he thought the same. The third one, he knew there was something wrong. By the fifth one he knew that Ragna somehow knew where he was going to strike, and was reacting to it accordingly.

Ragna had been getting a smug look on his face. He wiped that look off by giving him a sixth strike. Faster, cleaner, and much more precise than the five previous ones.

And like the five before it, Ragna had tried to block it, to parry it. But all it accomplished was getting to it halfway, before he managed to bonk Ragna on the head with the shaft of the wooden sword.

Well, bonk is such a light word. More like he splintered the whole thing on his noggin. But hey, at least he learned a lesson; never assume you can get there in time to stop a strike.

That was how people lost their eyes, or their arms, or at worst, their lives.

He liked to think he formed a bond with Ragna right then and there, what with their missing body parts and all that. Sorta morbid, but hey, it was a start.

"D is starting to think it's more than just body parts that are missing." He smiled a little as he turned around and faced D. Out of taste joke there, but hey, that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate it.

"Sorta probably there." He answered as he took a seat across from D. "And cut the accent. It's fer trading, not fer dealin'."

D's eyes widened a little, before he nodded his head. "Alright," D began as he swept his hair to the side. "What do you need?"

Again, another smirk appeared on his face. "You know me D. I'll take the usual." He then paused for a second, before he sighed and shook his head. "And give the kid one of yer best ones. Kid needs somethin' other than his fists to do his dirty work."

"How long and how much would it weigh?" D asked as a pen and paper appeared in his hands. D was already writing down notes in it, and probably making a little sketch of his latest project.

"Ehh, probably a head taller than the kid, weights all up ta you though." His answer garnered a confused look from D.

"A head taller?" D asked. He had stopped writing down in his notebook and was looking at him like he was crazy. "I doubt the kid can wield-"

"Trust me," He interrupted as he grinned. "He's still a growing boy. He'll grow into it."

D still looked skeptical, but nonetheless, restarted his writing on the notebook. "What kind?" D asked as he looked at him expectantly.

"Broad, heavy, and one-sided." He answered immediately. Again, D looked at him like he was crazy.

"I thought you said the weight was up to me?" D asked, to which he shrugged his shoulder.

"It is." He answered. "Just make it as heavy as ya can, and make sure that it's only one-sided. Don't want the kid ta kill 'imself tryna use the thing." He doubted that would happen, but nonetheless, his joke garnered a laugh from D.

"Anything else?" D asked, amused at his what he wanted the trader to do. Well, if he was amused, then it's about time to make him blanch.

"Yeah, actually…" He paused as he put on a shit-eating grin. "Make it a scythe."

D let out a sigh, before he wrote the last piece down. "Y'know." D began, making him look up at the old – damn how did he make it look like he was no older than 30? – trader. "Your kid acts just like Bullet."

He didn't need by Einstein to figure out which kid he was talking about. "Yeah," He nodded his head. He agreed with that, Ragna did act like Bullet. And if he squinted enough, he could tell that Ragna was going down the same road as Bullet herself. "But I ain't about ta make him do that same things she did."

"When I lost my loved ones," D began, putting down the pen he was holding, before he looked straight at him. "I thought I was grown up. I thought I couldn't hurt anymore when I watched all of my friends and family die in front of me."

He kept silent as he listened. He knew this story, he knew what D was talking about. He understood to a degree, because he had been there. "An inferno, a burning pure hell was what I keep describing it." D continued, his voice soft as his eyes seemed to gaze far-away. "Had it not been for you Jubei, I would have met my fate with them as well."

"Aw shucks," He grinned as D turned back towards him. "Ya make it sound like ya wanted to live." His grin dropped. He remembered D after he had pulled him out of there. Cursing and spitting at him, telling him to finish the job the whole world started.

It was D's turn to chuckle. "Could you really blame me?" D asked him, a honest smile on his face. "I was twelve years old when I watched my parents burn in front of me. My sister instantly vaporized. And my friends turn into liquid. You can just imagine how someone so young could hope to cope when everything in his life was suddenly and swiftly taken away from him."

His lips curved upwards slightly. "If I recall correctly, you were thirteen."

D's eyes took a sudden shine in them. "Ah yes, I forgot it happened during my birthday as well."

A lull in the conversation, and he adjusted himself in the seat. "As much as I enjoy this little reminiscence session of ours. When were ya plannin' to get to yer point?" He asked as he looked at D. D raised a hand before shaking his head in response.

"I don't know what Ragna had gone though." D began, sighing as he did so. "But understand that what he needs is you. Like what you did for me saved me all those years ago. Understand that you need only repeat what you did to me."

He smirked a little, feeling the unease he had been feeling about brining Ragna here disappear. "Aw hell, am I so easy ta read now?" He asked, a honest grin appearing on his face.

D let out a laugh at his words. "Not easy. Just predictable."

Another lull in the conversation, but this one wasn't awkward. He thought about what D said, and honestly, why was he so uneasy about all this? The kid was a kid, that was alright. But at the same time, he needed to grow up. He could be throwing tantrums like that, and it'd be normal. Just as long as he got out of it.

To which he had no doubt he would do. He was Ragna. Not Bloodedge, at least, not yet. But he was getting there.

"So." D began again, raising the piece of paper and waving it in front of him. "D cancels order yes?" And once more, his accent took a turn for the worse.

Just for that… "Nope. Try and find a scythe with a one-sided blade fer me will ya?" He grinned as he saw D give him a rotten look.

 **XxX**

"Alright, nothing to do and nothing to see." He spoke to himself as he threw his hands and put them behind his head. "Damn it, I shoulda stayed in the damn tent. At least I'd have someone better to talk to than myself." He let out a sigh as he wandered around the tree lines past the camp.

He knew that doing this was sorta dangerous, but he wasn't going to go that far. Besides, it's not like he couldn't take care of himself. If worse comes to worst, he'd just use an Ars and blow whatever the hell that attacked him to pieces.

Still…

"Gah!" He threw his hands in the air as he plopped down onto the ground. "Why the hell am I stuck here while Jubei has to teach someone else? I'm his student damn it." There wasn't really any bitterness in his voice, but it was still annoying to think he wasn't being trained. He had to get stronger damn it, if not for him than for Saya. He needed to save her.

He took a deep breath, before he managed to calm himself down enough to think clearly. "Great, now I'm thinking like Jin." He paused, before he curled himself into a ball. "Gah! Now that ain't fair!" He was damn sure Jin wasn't thinking normally when he went and cut-off his arm. His brother, the one he took care of with Saya wasn't someone that just… went off like that.

At least, that was what he hoped.

"Normally, talking to oneself like that and screaming right afterwards is a sign of mental illness." He jumped from his position, surprised at the sudden voice that came right above him.

"Whoa!" He shouted as he got to his feet before he did a 180' and took a ready stance. How the hell – "What the hell! How the heck did you get so near me without at least making a damn sound!" He shouted as he pointed at the veritable red-giant in front of him.

That wasn't normal! A nine-foot tall devil-looking man with the body that would put a wall to shame just didn't… move that quietly!

The man – was he really still a man? – chuckled as he crossed his stump-like red arms. He noticed that there was some kind of bracelets attached to his wrists, and he caught a glimpse of the number written on it.

Nine-hundred pounds, high voltage. Nope, ain't pissing this guy off.

"These?" The giant asked as he raised his hands, staring at the bracelet on it. "Don't worry about it, these things are just there to keep my strength in check. Wouldn't want to accidentally crush someone when giving them a handshake." The giant let out hearty laugh as if his words didn't make him tense.

"Err, yeah." He gave out his own laugh, but it sounded forced and completely nervous. But he couldn't help it! The giant could crush him by giving him a friggin' handshake! What did anyone expect him to be!

"I sense you're nervous." The giant uncrossed his arms over his chest, before he kneeled down in front of him and _pat_ his hair. If he wasn't so damn scared he could push down and crush him he would've pushed it away.

Still… "Don't touch me like I'm a kid." He grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. The giant stopped and retracted his hand before standing.

"Aren't you one though?" The giant asked him. He let out a sigh. Technically, he was one. He was only thirteen years old, but still, he hesitated calling himself a kid. For the majority of his life, he had to be the elder one, the big brother for both Jin and Saya. And he had failed at that.

"…I hope I'm not." God. He sounded like a little kid. Hoping wasn't something he could put his faith in to, not like he had much of faith either. But still, there were a thousand different things to be other than hopeful.

The giant gave a laugh at his answer. "A precocious one aren't you?" The giant half-asked/half-stated as he stared down at him. He fought hard not to squirm under the giant's gaze. "Well, take it from me. Don't be in any hurry to grow up. The grown-up world is a messy place." The words came as a warning, but he didn't take it to heart.

"Well, it sure as hell beats moping around like a little kid." He countered, crossing his arms as he did so. He didn't want to stay a kid, he had to grow up. If he didn't, he'd have to rely on others to get Saya and Jin back for him. And as much as he wanted some sort of hero to just drop out of the sky with Saya in hand and Jin in a bag kicking and screaming, he knew that he had to be the one to do that. He had to be the hero for Saya and-

Did he just say he had to be a friggin' _hero?_

Before he could berate himself for even thinking of something as stupid as that, he was interrupted from his thoughts by the giant holding out a hand to him. "My name is Tager. Just Tager for now."

He looked up at the giant, and then at his giant hand, before he hesitantly reached out and grabbed a finger. God, his finger was bigger than his hand! "Ragna. That's it. No last name."

Tager's hands enclosed Ragna's own, and he winced as he felt it begin to shake up and down. Thankfully, Tager had let go before anything untoward would happen to his hand. "Well Ragna, I don't know how you got to that way of thinking, but I will leave you with a parting question before I go and find Kokonoe."

Kokonoe. Right, he forgot. He was with that weirdo scientist in the tent before. A passing thought of where she was appeared in his head, before he realized he didn't care.

"Alright, shoot." Their hands finally parted, and he immediately crossed his arms over his chest again as he looked up at the giant. It wasn't at all to make him bigger, it was to try and protect his ribcage if Tager ever decided he wanted to playfully punch him. Not that he could see Tager doing that now, what with it conflicting with his personality.

"What about those that couldn't?" Tager asked immediately. The question was so sudden and off kilter that he had to blink a few times before it registered.

"What?" He asked. He had heard the question, but he didn't understand what he was talking about.

"Let me rephrase that." Tager pushed his glassed up. "What about those that could not be children? Those that couldn't be kids? Would you so gladly throw away your chance at being a child even then?"

He scowled before he answered. "Those kids don't have any idea what I've been through."

Tager nodded his head. "I will not dispute that." Tager paused, before he continued. "But how about you? Have you gone through what those kids have gone through?"

He felt his ears grow warm as he answered. "What do I care about them? They aren't me. I'm me. I'm the one that was given a shitty deal in life and has to live with it. I'm the one that has to fix crap that wasn't my fault in the first place. I'm the one that has to deal with something that shouldn't even be placed onto a thirteen year old kid!" His voice steadily grew louder and louder until he finally shouted the last part. His eyes darted down, towards his right arm, towards the arm that housed something that no amount of nuclear weapons could hope to obliterate. Towards the arm that could very well destroy the world.

Silence reigned, until it was finally broken by Tager's chuckling. He looked up, at first angry, before confused as he caught the genuine smile on Tager's red devilish face. "And yet here you are. Cursing and spitting as if some child. It's okay to be childlike sometimes. To curse the deal you've been given. But to let it consume you, to let it drive you. That's where you're going to learn that being an adult sometimes isn't the best thing to do."

Tager nodded his head once, before he turned his massive body and began walking away. He clucked his tongue, before he spoke up. "You sound like you know what I'm going through."

Tager replied without turning around and stopping. "I won't say I do. But I will say I'm trying to understand. And I will also say I've gone through something similar." The giant looked over his shoulder back towards him, the smile gone from his lips as he just stared at him. "I wasn't always born this way you know."

With that, Tager turned back forward and continued walking. He kept walking until he disappeared in the canopy of trees, until he was finally gone from his sight. It was only when he was gone did he realize that he hadn't heard a single noise come from the giant as he walked. Not even the snapping of twigs.

Still, as weird as that was, and as scary as that was. He felt… relieved. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulder. He wouldn't admit it, but that talk had really helped him put perspective onto his situation. That he was fighting not only for Jin and Saya and the world. But he was also fighting for himself and his own life.

"…Thanks." He muttered under his breath towards the direction where Tager had disappeared. He would never admit that he had ever felt this way, but he wouldn't hide that he had.

 **XxX**

He next found his master in a clearing.

That is to say, the area was cleared by the repeated punches of one Bullet and her gauntlets.

"Don't put too much strain on yer body. The gauntlets'er supposed to do the breaking, all ya have to do is guide them ta what ya wanna break." Jubei's instructions rang clear in the field. He watched as Bullet's face contorted to one of concentration, before she nodded her head and got into a ready stance.

"Pull!" Jubei shouted as he threw a veritable boulder directly on the path of Bullet. He tensed a little at the display. Not out of worry for the girl, but out of worry for himself.

Ah hell, this ain't no clearing. It was just clear of trees. And if there were no trees, then Jubei'll find another thing to whack his head with. And he did not want that to be a boulder.

He was broken out of his reverie as the boulder suddenly exploded in midair. He looked towards the only person that could have done the deed, and wasn't surprised to be proven true.

Bullet had her left arm extended, the fist and gauntlet smoking as she settled into a stance that looked like a boxer throwing a left hook. He wondered idly why she was paused like that, but then the thought was gone as she settled into the normal stance he saw her use before.

"Good, but not good enough. Ya still pause when ya throw punches. That leaves yer opponent enough time to go in and kill you if you miss." Jubei's words were laced with disapproval, but nonetheless, it didn't seem to affect Bullet at all as she just nodded her head at the old cat.

He shifted a little, putting all his weight into one foot, before he crossed his arms. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He looked towards the owner of the hand, and was met with the lollipop sucking Kokonoe as she stared not at him, but at the scene in front of them.

"Don't interrupt kid. This is valuable information being recorded. If you wanna train, go find your own clearing." The cat/human hybrid said as she let go of him and then pulled the clipboard that was under her armpit. She pulled out the pen attached to said clipboard, before she began jotting down whatever notes she had about Bullet into it.

He scowled at being dismissed so easily, but again, before he could say anything. He was interrupted, this time by his own teacher. "Hey Ragna!" He turned his head towards his teacher, just in time to see him shifting a boulder into his hands and get in a position ready to _throw_. "Catch!"

And with that, Jubei threw the boulder the size of a table right into his path. He cursed as he prepared to dodge, but then realized something. There was someone behind him.

"Ah hell!" He planted his feet into the ground, before he braced himself for the incoming boulder. He didn't know why he was doing this, but at the moment, he couldn't think. He had to act.

The boulder was coming at him at a speed he could react to, and that suited him just fine. He ducked a few moments before the boulder could get into his range, not to dodge it. But to try and redirect the force using the bottom of it.

He grunted as he pushed his hand against the bottom of the stone, using a small displacement Ars that didn't need any prior incantation to use, he felt his arms get the tiniest bit stronger, just the tiniest bit hard. He allowed that strength to translate into redirecting the boulder by pushing against the bottom of it.

He was rewarded for his efforts by the boulder sailing past his – and consequently Kokonoe's – head, before the boulder landed a few feet behind and them began rolling, kicking up dirt and forming a trail behind it through the ground. That was a telling sign about how heavy that rock actually was.

"Oi!" He shouted as he straightened himself. "The hell was that old man! You could have killed us!" He heard a snort from behind him, but didn't pay it any attention as he glared at his master. Who was now sporting the grin he hated so much.

"Had the utmost faith in ya kid. I knew you wouldn't have gotten hit. I didn't train ya fer that." Jubei said as he jumped down from the ledge he was on and began walking towards him. And judging by Jubei's grin, his scowl didn't affect the old cat in the slightest.

"Well gee, I guess that excuses you throwing a five hundred pound rock at me." He bit out sarcastically as he crossed his arms and glared at Jubei.

"It was four hundred and eighty-six actually." Jubei commented as he shrugged. "But it's all pedantry really. I really gotta teach you how to measure weight and mass by height and volume."

Something told him he would not like how that would go down.

"Are you two done bonding yet?" Kokonoe's voice alerted him that she was still behind him. "Cause I haven't got all day and I need more data about those gauntlets." The impatience literally bled out of her tone.

Jubei turned his eyes away from his, before he saw the old cat stare at his daughter. "Ehh, I'm done for the day. 'Sides, I gotta make some time for my real apprentice now don't I? Can't let his brain rot for even a second lest he forgets everything I thought 'im."

He resisted the urge to say something biting. He wasn't gonna fall for it, he wasn't gonna fall for it, he wasn't gonna fall for it…

"I doubt the kid could even muster up enough brain cells to figure out what you're gonna teach him." Kokonoe said, cutting his inner mantra. "You're not exactly the best model figure, nor is he the sharpest tool in the shed."

Damn it, falling for it or not, no one just said those things about it and got away unscathed.

"Shut up you old hag." He crossed his arms as the words automatically left his mouth. "I don't need a washed up weird cat-lady telling me how my brain works."

The silence that followed was palpable in its entirety, and it honestly made him feel good that he made Kokonoe shut the hell up.

"Before you attempt to eviscerate the kid," Another voice said, and once again, he jumped in surprise at the closeness of it from behind him. "Need I remind you that you now have two good reasons for staying here?" He turned around and was met with the hulking form of Tager standing with his arms crossed behind him.

"God damn it! Don't do that! You're gonna give me a heart attack!" He shouted at the giant. Not at all caring that he was shouting at someone that could crush him with a finger if he wanted to. There would be nothing to crush if his heart stopped because he kept _appearing_ out of nowhere anyway.

Tager let out a sound that could be constituted as a snort/laugh. But otherwise, kept silent as he stared at Kokonoe expectantly.

Kokonoe returned the stare with a blank one of her own. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" She said as she stared at the giant.

Tager didn't reply besides crossing his arms and giving a vague smirk.

Kokonoe's reply to that was to give him the finger before responding verbally. "Yeah, yeah. Alright fine." She then took the chains off her chest before she walked past both him and Tager, past Jubei, and then finally stopped in front of Bullet.

For her part, Bullet only seemed mildly confused. "Should I try and break them now?" Her question was heard all around, and he wondered what she meant by that. Those are just ordinary chains right? Hell, he'd be able to break them if he tried really hard.

Kokonoe nodded her head, before she grabbed both ends of the chains and then held it out. "Put all your strength into breaking these things. I don't care what that useless cat has thought you, but for the moment, I just need you to focus all your attention to these chains." A pause followed Kokonoe's request, before he heard her sigh. "And try not to hit me."

Bullet was taken aback for a moment, before she nodded her head. "No promises though."

"Never believed in promises anyway. Always one-sided to either party." He blinked as he detected a faint hint of… he wouldn't call it anger, it was something much more raw. It sounded like… she was hurt. But that couldn't be right? This was a woman that liked to control everything so much she would put bombs into things to do so. Why would she be so easily hurt if she was willing to hurt others so willingly? Somehow, he didn't take Kokonoe to be a hypocrite.

By his side, he heard Jubei sigh. A deep and long breath as the cat looked on at Kokonoe. He raised an eyebrow at the cat. "Something you going to tell me someday?" Not that he expected the old cat to of course. But hell, he wasn't totally heartless. And the cat – while vindictive to the point of being a slave driver – was someone that helped him when he needed help. The least he could do was _care_ about him.

Fortunately for him, he was spared from anything awkward developing as Jubei just shrugged. "If it ever comes up, I'll tell ya."

Not confirmation, but it was something. He nodded his head in understanding. Hell, looks like Tager's words weren't just for him. It was for everyone else as well too. "Alright then. I'll be right here if you need to talk."

"Heh," Jubei let out a snort at his words. "I appreciate yer concern, but yer a hundred years too young to be try'na cheer me up. When you go through the things I've gone through, then we can talk like equals." Cryptic words from his cryptic teacher. He would have been exasperated if he wasn't so used to it by now.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He waved his hand dismissively as he watched Bullet take a ready stance and Kokonoe take a few steps back with the chains still stretched. "Just make sure you have a cup'a sake for me when we're equals. Wouldn't want you thinking less of me by thinking I can't hold my liquor." The funny thing was, he didn't know if he could hold his liquor. He had never tried drinking before.

Jubei didn't answer him, and that marked the end of that little bonding session. And while it may have seemed trivial for anyone listening in. It marked something between their relationship.

Master and student was what they were when all this started a week and a half ago. Now, he felt… closer to the old coot. And while he wouldn't exactly catch a bullet for him, he would be sad if he died without at least saying bye or something. Morbid he knew, but it was the truth.

He idly wondered if this was what Tager meant. If forcing himself to grow up would have made him miss the opportunity of trying to get to know his mas – get to know Jubei.

A small shockwave broke him out of his thoughts. He felt winds whip past his face and through his hair, before he looked towards where the shockwave originated from. There, he saw Bullet, left arm forward in a boxing stance, unmoving and wide-eyed as she stared at what she had punched.

In front of Bullet, was Kokonoe. Mouth creased into a frown as she held the still in tact chain as if it hadn't been punched by something that caused things to _break_ period. The only difference was, the chains were now _glowing._ They shimmered a light gold and seemed to make the air around it feel… abhorrent. He had no idea how that worked, but it did.

He was about to say something, but a splitting headache stopped him from doing so. It was caused by him taking a glance at the glowing chain and seeing… images.

No wait, this feeling was familiar. These weren't images, these were memories.

The memories flowed into his mind like a wave. He saw images of a blond haired man, with a diminutive woman with long green hair. The image changed, but there was still the blond man, only this time, there was a muscular man right beside him. They were both clad in armor that didn't cover their chests. Both muscular, and both fighting a horde – no, it wasn't a horde. It was an army. They fought an army.

Before he could delve deeper into that memory though, it faded and was replaced by another. This time, of the blond haired man looking down onto the green haired woman. Tears spilled from his eyes as the woman reached up and cupped the man's cheek. The woman began speaking in a language he couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend. The image faded as the woman's hand began to fall, along with the man's tears.

His vision steadily grew sharper. His breaths became steadier, and his headache began to disperse. He looked up, before he shook his head to clear away the spots still in his vision. When he could finally see things clearly, it was to the sight of Kokonoe looking over every inch of the chains and talking.

"…glowing doesn't seem to come from any outside source. Could it be a reactant to something? But then, what would that something be. There's only a handful of elements that reacts-" And he turned out whatever it was Kokonoe was saying. He could learn to understand, but at the moment, he couldn't care less to.

"Did ya see the weird glowin' too?" He turned his head to regard Jubei. The old cat had his single eye staring forward towards Kokonoe, though if he had to guess, it was staring at the chains instead of the scientist babbling.

"Yeah, I did." He answered, making Jubei turn towards him with a frown on his face. "What do you think that was?" He asked. He was honestly curious about it, he didn't think any ordinary chain link would glow after getting hit by blunt force, so maybe it was reacting to something different? Heat? But Kokonoe had been holding it. So…

Bah, why was he thinking about this? It didn't matter to him. What mattered was the series of images – _memories_ – that passed through his head as the chains kept glowing. Who was that blond man? And that woman he was with? Did she die? Was that a final image of the man saying goodbye? And what about that other part, where the blond and that other muscular man took on an _army_.

Before he could think over these things more however, a sharp pain erupted at his shin.

"Gah!" He hopped on one foot as he grabbed the appendage that felt like it had been kicked. He glared at the only person that could have done so. "The fuck was that for?!" He shouted as he finally managed to get the pain under control.

To his annoyance, Jubei replied with a shrug. "'Sides the fact that I felt like it? You were spacin' out. Not a good habit to have when yer around someone that could kill you."

He snorted. "Yeah, as if you'd kill me." He was confident that he had at least earned a 'no kill' rule with Jubei.

Jubei smirked at him before he answered. "You forgot? I threatened ta kill ya when ya first woke up and tried to run off. What makes you think I've changed my mind?"

Good point, so he'd have to counter that with his own. "You like me too much." He smirked. He was given the pleasure of making Jubei at least slightly surprised judging from the way his eyebrows rose.

"Now this I have to hear." Jubei said as the cat crossed his arms over his chest and stared up at him. After a second, Jubei gestured to him, as if telling him to do so.

His response was to shrug. "I'm not exactly the best person to put up with." He said truthfully. It was a truth he had knew about him even when he was still in the church with Jin and Saya. "My mouth tends to spew things most would blush at. I hurl insults whenever I can, and I'm as hardheaded as a rock if I'm totally honest." Each piece of that sentence was true, but he wasn't bothered by it. It was what made him himself. Why would he be ashamed of it?

"Not seein' a point here." Jubei interrupted him, his tone petulant, but the smirk that played on his face told him he was amused.

"Hang on, geez." He said as he shook his head at Jubei. He sighed as he decided to just get it out. "My point is. If you've put up with me this much, then I'm guessing you must have patience the longer than the solar system. Or you like having me around." He uncrossed his arms and shrugged. "And I know for a fact that the first one would be impossible for you."

Jubei stared at him for a few seconds, his eyes blinking, but holding a hint of mirth in them. Finally, the old cat broke out in deep laughter. He scowled at the sound, but soon, he felt himself smiling as well. Pretty soon, he was laughing as well, Jubei's laughter having been contagious for him.

After a few seconds of laughing, they both managed to control themselves, before finally Jubei responded. "G-gotta admit kid," Jubei began, taking a deep breath as he steadied himself. "Never thought you'd admit you were that flawed. Are ya gonna change yerself now that you got that all out?" Jubei asked, a smile on his whiskered face as he did so.

Managing himself, he let out a deep breath before he scoffed. "Why should I? The world should adjust for me, cause I sure as hell won't adjust for them." He grinned as he stared at Jubei, who returned his grin with a smile.

"Good," Jubei nodded his head, before he walked past him. He followed the old cat as they made their way out of the clearing, passing Tager who had been silently watching the conversation by the treeline, he was about to call out to the giant, but Jubei interrupted him. "I didn't want to teach ya manners. Seein' as I don't have the best ones myself."

He smiled a little at Jubei's words. Heh, like master and student huh? He was really starting to like Jubei now.

 **XxX**

 **Like I said in the first chapter. The Fate universe isn't going to play a large part in this series aside from Shirou's arm getting shafted onto Ragna.**

 **This chapter was nothing more than Jubei and Ragna getting a bit of character development. Especially for Ragna as the incident happened more or less a week and a half ago for him. He isn't over it, not by a long shot. But he is starting to learn that those things happen, and it's better to make the most of the situation than to wallow in thoughts about it.**

 **Jubei on the other hand, well (SPOILER ALERT, LEAVE NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER), keep in mind that Ragna was someone he looked up to a hundred years ago when the Black Beast roamed the earth. It's very likely (and more importantly, in character) for Jubei to wonder if he's going to do enough for Ragna and the person he looked up to a hundred years ago.**

 **As for D and his relationship with Jubei. Well, his past isn't really important in the overall story, but his past will be revealed in increments. I'm not done with D, nor am I done with Bullet. This will mark the first arc of this story, but don't expect flashy-actiony parts. This arc will focus more on developing the characters into what they will be in a few years when Ragna grows up.**

 **I'm going to go ahead and aim for the head and say, no. Ragna and Jubei will not stay with D and his camp of merchants/mercenaries. But they will have a symbiotic relationship with them in the form of… well, further chapters will explain.**

 **So. Thoughts for this chapter? I was struggling with characterization of the characters, and had to rewrite a few segments here and there because I just didn't feel like Ragna and Jubei meshed with their canon counterparts. Hopefully, my rewriting has paid off. But yeah, I need Blazblue aficionados to tell me if I got the characters right or wrong. I'm not as confident about my Blazblue writing as my Fate one. But hey, it's practice. And I'm at least confident enough to know that I won't butcher the characters for what they are and make sure that when people like them, they'll like the canon characters as well.**

 **Anyway, I'm out. Expect the next chapter of A Gaming Magus soon.**

 **C.O.Y.L out, peace!**

 **P.S: Again, in the spirit of laziness (and also the fact that my midterms are this week and I should be studying instead), this chapter is being posted post-haste without grammar checking and such. As before, I'll take this down if I ever get around to reediting this chapter. But for now, enjoy all the grammary goodness of an *bleed*year old majoring Psych in an... eastern country.**


	5. Tied Together (I)

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

 **XxX**

"Mother fuc- gah!" He didn't finish his sentence as he felt the trunk of the tree hit him square on the chest, knocking all the wind out of him, before sending him careening through the air on the path to another tree.

Had it been a month before, he would have no doubt gone through the tree he was soaring towards, but he had learned that if he allowed that to happen, he'd be immobile for the rest of the day, with splinters in places there shouldn't be splinters in.

So he had learned. He learned to right himself in the air, turning his legs towards the tree he was to land in, before he let his legs absorb the momentum, crushing the trunk of the tree he would land on, and then he learned to spring forward, destroying the tree in question.

"Get some new tricks old man!" He shouted as he repeated the process for the umpteenth time, springing forward with his right hand cocked backwards, rapidly approaching the old cat with a tree held over his shoulder like a baseball bat.

Jubei for his part, wasn't impressed.

"Come on kid, ya gotta learn that those words apply to yerself as well." Jubei scolded as he held the tree at the ready, knees apart and a smirk on his face.

He had also learned that Jubei was a sadistic bastard, and wasn't above hitting him like a baseball and sending him flying through the air towards the opposite side of the forest.

So he had learned to counter that as well.

Jubei swung his tree/baseball bat, intending to send him flying again. He managed to duck the tree slightly, feeling the leaves still left on it bristle on top of his head, before he grabbed the trunk and swung himself on the opposite end, right on top of it.

"Got you now you old cat!" He shouted as he stood up and immediately ran towards Jubei, as he reached the old cat's head, he reared his leg in for a kick, ready to get revenge for all the damn things the cat subjected him to for the past month.

Too bad he still wasn't fast enough.

Jubei disappeared in a blur, leaving nothing but an image of his smirking cat-face as his leg went through the it. He cursed, before he felt himself stumble as the tree had nothing to support it in the air and fell down on the ground.

He cursed as he felt a weight appear on his shoulders, and outright swore as he felt claws against his face.

"FUCK!" He shouted in pain as he felt claws embed into his skin and _pulled_.

Over the pain, over the curses he shouted in the air, he heard his teacher's laughter. But not only his, he also heard another set of laughter, this time from a voice he had grown accustomed to for the past month.

"Fuck you old man! And you too you tomboy!" He shouted towards the laughing pair as he sat up, hand still on his face as he rubbed it to try and ease some of the stinging pain for having his face clawed.

He heard a snort from the tomboy. "Yeah, you wish." Was her retort to him. He grumbled under his breath as he felt blood rush to his face at the image… before he cursed again as the blood exacerbated the pain even more.

"Get yer mind outta the gutter kid," Jubei scolded, though from the tone he used, he was more amused than exasperated. He cursed the cat again, before he sat down and started breathing exercises.

"Stupid son of a bitch cat clawing my face like that." He muttered to himself, not at all caring that he was heard. Sure swearing and cursing under his breath was counter-productive to him actually getting breathing exercises done, but it made him feel better. And besides…

"Not that ain't nice," Jubei retorted, the old cat's voice was next to him. He heard the ruffling of leaves, and knew that Jubei had sat down next to him. "My mother wasn't a bitch, she was a cat." He smirked, that insult never failed to get a rise out of Jubei.

"You do know he's just humoring you right?" He put his hand down from his face and looked up, only to see Bullet standing over him with crossed arms and a frowning face. He watched as she sat down, pounding the ground with her gauntlet covered fists for a second to tenderize it. "There's no way someone so carefree like Master Jubei would let insults get to him."

He scowled, before he took a deep breath. ""Doesn't matter if he's humoring me or not." He let out a deep exhale, feeling the wound across his face already closing up thanks to his enhanced rate of healing. It was going to be a bitch to make sure he was well fed later, but hey, at least the stinging was gone. "I'm still gonna scream curses at him and his family. Especially his weird ass bitch of a daughter."

"Don't call her that!" He smirked as he managed to trigger Bullet's anger. He then laughed a little at his own little pun.

"What?" He asked petulantly, crossing his own arms over his chest. "That Koko-puff is a control freak bitch that wants everything on a leash so she can put bombs in them?" He should stop, but watching Bull-head's face contort so much just fanned the flames for more insults. "Not gonna happen. I don't lie, and for the most part, Koko-puff likes to have things under her thumb."

"That's not-" Bullet was about to retort, but he interrupted her before she could.

"And another thing, that bitch just doesn't see so much as a human person. She probably just sees us as lab rats she can experiment on if she decides to just go ape-shit. A woman like that with those kinds of morals? Makes me wonder what made you so loyal to her." A smirk appeared on his face. Not vindictive, but a knowing one. He wasn't purposely trying to hurt Bullet… well, probably. He was just trying to show her that loyalty to someone like Kokonoe probably wasn't the best thing to have.

He had to duck out of the way as a fist came close to beheading him.

"Whoa!" He rolled backwards before he sprung to his feet, taking up a defensive stance. "What's the fucking idea!" He shouted as he readied himself to react to anything Bullet might throw at him.

"Shut up!" Bullet shouted as she charged, fist reared and ready to punch. He clucked his tongue as he backed-up, there was no way in hell he was going to take Bullet head on. She's probably as strong as Jubei.

"Will you chill out!" He shouted as he dove behind a tree, only to cringe as he felt the tree explode into splinters right on top of his head. He looked up and saw Bullet's other fist reared and ready to pound him into the ground.

"Damn!" He reacted about as well as he could. He kicked the ground underneath him, managing to jump back in time before Bullet punched the ground and caused a miniature quake that managed to shake loose leaves and acorns in the forest they were in.

Taking advantage of the decreased visibility, he landed before he sprinted up a tree. "I was just telling the truth! It's not my fault your stupid ass can't accept that!"

Again, that was probably the wrong thing to say, as he found Bullet already level with him and her fist reared back. Damn it, he probably shouldn't have spoken.

Before the fist could collide with his face and no doubt cave it in, Jubei appeared in between them. He saw Jubei grab Bullet's fist, before he spun in the air and threw her straight back to the ground back first.

He watched as Bullet collided with the ground, but he wasn't smiling or smirking. Jubei had never got in between their spats before.

True, for the past month he had been training with Jubei near the mercenary band, he and Bullet weren't the best of friends. And they even came to blows one time or another, but their fights had never really been too serious, at least, too serious as to have Jubei jump in.

He knew he could have dodged that fist to his face, he had been upping his agility and speed ever since he found Jubei could run circles around him all day. Jubei probably did as well. So why did he interrupt? He wasn't in danger… right?

"Kid," He was taken out of thoughts as he felt Jubei land on the branch next to him. He looked towards his master, and flinched as he saw the disappointed look he was giving him. "Ya gone an' took it too far this time." Jubei pointed to the ground where Bullet was still lying down on.

"Huh?" Was his reply. The heck was Jubei talking about? There was no way he would have gone too far, he'd been saying those kinds of things to Bullet the past month. And so far, she hadn't been affected… So why the heck was she still down there with a miserable look on her face?

"Oi!" He shouted as he jumped down from the branch. He landed next to Bullet, before he peered down onto her. "Ya got a stick lodged up your ass when you fell down or something?" He asked, confused and probably a little concerned that Bullet wasn't moving.

He watched as Bullet only blinked, before she rolled over facing away from him.

He blinked, before he heard himself growl. "Hey! Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to do that!" He chided Bullet, who still wasn't giving him the time of day.

He was about to say something biting, probably focused on her green behind as grass was stuck to it, but was stopped as Jubei landed on his shoulder. The sudden weight made him look towards the cat, only to see his master shaking his head.

"Kid, why don't ya head back into camp. I'll take care'a Bullet for now." Jubei said, though from the tone he used, it came out sounding more like a command than anything else.

He crossed his arms, before he shook his head. "Hell no, I want to find out what made Bullet here cry like a-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as he felt a sharp pain erupt from his shin.

"Gah!" He hopped on one foot as he held the hurt shin, through the pain, he managed to see Bullet's backhanded-fist where his leg had been.

"What the hell-" Again, before he could shout curses, he was interrupted, not by Jubei, but by Bullet herself.

"Just leave me alone." Her voice was cold, and lacked the previous hotness and liveliness she usually had when they fought. In fact, her voice just sounded… detached.

He managed to quell his hurting shin, before he looked down at Bullet with a frown.

"Are you ok-" He was about to ask, but stopped himself as Bullet leveled him with the coldest glare she had ever given him. He scratched the back of his head, before he felt Jubei jump from his shoulder and back onto the ground.

"Come on kid, get back ta camp. I'll take care'a Bullet. Reckon she doesn't wanna see you for now anyway."

Frowning, he looked at Jubei, before his gaze turned back towards Bullet, who had rolled over again and faced away from him and his master. Deciding that Jubei was probably right, he sighed before he turned around and began to walk towards camp.

Just what the hell did he do and why the hell was he so guilty about it?

 **Azure Blade Works**

 **XxX**

He arrived to camp, and immediately found himself being pulled into D's tent by the man himself.

"Whoa, hey!" He tried to squirm away from the man's grip, but found himself unable to as D had a solid grip on his shoulders. "I can walk just fine! Just tell me where! You don't have to take my shoulders off!"

He heard D let out a hearty laugh. "Is fine is fine!" D began, his tone mirthful and excited. "D can take you to tent just fine! D excited to show you work."

He had to sigh at the man's accent and tone. "Alright already! Just let me go, I can walk fine." D immediately let go of his shoulder, and he had to roll it to remove the creak that came with D releasing it. Damn was the man's grip tight. Still, D was excitable by nature. He had found that out for the past month he and Jubei stayed within walking distance of the trading camp D lead. He also knew that D's accent, though fake, was almost second nature to the man. Allowing him to switch between regular speech, to bastardized English. It was disconcerting at first, but the past month made him used to it… He didn't know if that was a good thing.

He quietly followed the man to his tent, quietly walking past other mercenaries and traders that lived in D's camp. He didn't know most of them, but his relationship with D and Bullet was known to almost everyone there, so they didn't mess with him, but they also didn't go out of their way to talk to him.

The same couldn't be said about Jubei however, the cat seemed to just draw people to him, what with his personality of being helpful/cryptic/approachable. The cat was someone you found yourself relaxing next to… And that was saying a lot since well, he wasn't the most sociable person out there.

Soon enough, he arrived at D's tent, he quietly gave it a once over, and quietly commended whoever did the patch work for it. The holes were completely sealed, and it didn't look like they had been there in the first place. He may only see D as an acquaintance, but D seemed like a really nice guy and he didn't think he deserved the treatment he got from Koko-puff.

Then again, he just didn't like Koko-puff period. So maybe he just liked whoever the hell she didn't that annoyed her.

Entering the tent, he was immediately greeted with the sight of… A scythe.

"Well?" He heard D's voice, but he couldn't get his eyes off the weapon that was leaning against the center table. "What kid think?"

He mentally answered D's question. The scythe's blade was made out of a titanium-steel alloy, with the blade being sharp enough to even cleave boulders and trees in two. The base that connected the blade to the handle had elastic joints made out of hardened plastic. At first glance, it would look like the scythe had a wrist of some sort, which might prevent it from doing damage as the joint would move and lighten the load a slice would do to a person, but the more his eyes looked at it, the more he realized it was designed that way.

The joints could harden or loosen depending on the way it was used, a hidden compartment in the scythe's base allowed the joint to move depending on the blade's position. If the blade was embedded into something or someone, and the wielder _pulled_ , the joint would move to the hidden compartment, locking it in place, allowing for the damage to maximize.

The base of the scythe was made of carbon-polyester. Making it both flexible and hard.

All in all, the scythe looked like a regular scythe until it was wielded. When it was swung, it would look like jelly, what with the soft joints and flexible base.

But underestimate it, and you were sure to have not only your head cut-off, but also your innards ripped from place. It was amazing how the scythe could look so inconspicuous, but also be extremely potent in its design.

But for all it's extremely well made parts, he couldn't help but see the small, almost invisible parts that just didn't look good.

The tempering of the blade told him that if it wasn't constantly put to a whetstone, it would dull beyond belief, turning it into nothing more than a bendy club. The compartments weren't well oiled, and he would need to constantly take the thing apart and oil it in order to make sure the mechanism inside didn't lock itself into place. The main base of the scythe was the weakest point though, it may look strong and felt strong. But a particularly hard blow, either from him trying to block something or if he just swung _that_ hard told him that it would break in two.

All in all, for all the scythe's good parts, it was counterbalanced by the bad parts that came from the same items that composed the scythe.

And then he realized… Jubei had asked for it to be made for him.

He had a… something in the back of his mind telling him that the weapon was made specifically for him. But he also realized that it wasn't supposed to last… That Jubei may have had a hand in making it, but no intention of making him keep it. An… Image of Jubei overseeing the creation of the weapon told him so, and he had learned long ago to just trust the images that came to him, at least, when it was related to weapons.

Still, though the weapon was made for him, he also knew it wasn't supposed to last. The weapon… was blank. It had no previous wielders, and only the images of how it was forged was in his head. He had next to nothing to go to about how to wield this thi-

A ringing in his head, and suddenly a new image popped up. An image of another scythe, pale blue and giving off a chilling death-like knell whenever he gazed upon it. Another image, of it being wielded in battle, of how the enemies that cast their eyes upon it were chilled to the bone, before they fell at the blade, their blood freezing.

He shook his head, stupid images made no damn sense, and yet he trusted them. The heck was wrong with him?

"So?" He looked up, towards D, and saw the man's smiling face. "What you think? Is good yes?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah, it's good." His words were true. Even though the scythe wasn't supposed to last, it was still well made. Yet… "But is that it?" He found it extremely lacking for some reason.

D's face scrunched up in confusion. "Is something being wrong with weapon?" D's voice told him he was confused, but more than that, D's voice sounded… Hurt? Disappointed? He didn't know.

He shook his head. "It's well-made, but it's… just lackluster." He didn't know why he was criticizing it, it was made _for_ him. The Sister always told him to take everything given to him with a smile, no matter how badly it looked.

Still, the weapon… Why did he feel the need to criticize it? It was made for him, and he should just take it… But compared to other weapons, it was just… lackluster. There was just no better word to describe it.

Wait, compared to other weapons? What the hell was that thought about? What other weapons? He only knew about Jubei's… and Terumi's… and Jin's… okay, maybe it was a little bit more lackluster. But damn it, comparing it just didn't seem fair.

"If you no liking, D can take back. Would sell for good price." He looked up at D, and saw the man staring at the weapon with a frown.

"Nah," He said as he approached the scythe, he took it in his right hand, before he held it up. Seven-feet and one inch. Taller than him by by a sizable lot, but it wasn't unwieldy. In fact, it was light, not surprising as he knew the exact weight of it.

Taking an experimental swing, he tested the swinging angle and speed it could get to. He saw D take a step back in precaution, but ignored it. He steadied the scythe by his side, before he nodded his head. "It's wieldy. Good enough for a fight, a little tall though."

D nodded his head. "Bigger swing, allows you to be keeping distance. Light and long, makes good hit and running yes?"

Again, an image of a blue scythe that froze things came into his head, but he ignored the thought. "I suppose so," He agreed, but frowned as he voiced a problem that could arise. "Doesn't seem all that durable though. Good enough for the Seithr infused animals out there, but against anyone else holding a weapon, if they managed to block this with a blade, they can slice right through." He had no idea where he was getting all this technical know-how of what would happen in combat, but he wasn't complaining. It was true after all, even if he couldn't make sense of what he said, common sense dictates that a blade could very well slice through the base of the scythe.

D nodded his head. "Was never meant for people." D's voice was admonishing, and he realized just what he was thinking. Damn, was he _that_ bloodthirsty that he would immediately target people first? "Was only meant for defense, and also for teaching. Jubei not want kid to kill people unless needed."

Unless needed… he wondered if that included Terumi… or maybe even Jin.

He shook his head to clear the though. "So," He began, raising the scythe before he flicked his head towards the exit. "Mind if I take it for a spin?" He asked, wanting to at least try it out before he did anything else. Not like he had anything else to do that is.

D just shrugged his shoulder. "Is yours, D has no say on where you take it or what you do with it." D then gave him a glare. "But be making sure you not destroy merchandise, if you practice, practice away from camp."

He rolled his eyes. Did he think he was a kid – err – _irresponsible_ kid? "Yeah, yeah. I got it. No more fights with Bullet in camp. Not like she wants to see me anymore anyway." For some reason, the last part bothered him, but he ignored it and stepped out of the tent.

 **XxX**

Stepping through the tent flaps, he spotted the mercenary/trader that owned the camp. "Hey D." He called out, making the gruff man turn to him with a bright smile on his face.

"Jubei, a pleasure to have you here." No accent this time. He shook his head at the man's incessant changing of speaking tones, before he took a seat on a chair next to the central table. There was a plate filled with food opposite him, and from the hot steam coming out of it, he reckoned that it was freshly made.

"Yer just eatin'?" He asked, an eyebrow raising as he watched D take a seat in front of the food before picking up the fork and knife next to it. "Isn't it a bit late ta have lunch?"

D just shrugged his shoulders, before he cut a piece of… meat from his food and placed it in his mouth. "Not lunch, just a snack."

He stared incredulously at the large piece of meat. Before he sighed. "Shouldn't ya be selling that instead of eating it? Not everyday ya can get meat fer food."

D just gave a laugh. "It would do well for one to indulge himself every now and again." D said with a smirk. "I would offer you some, but I doubt you would be willing to spend the coin for it."

D wasn't exactly wrong, but that wasn't why he was here. "Did ya see the kid?" He asked, changing the subject to why he came to the tent in the first place.

D nodded his head. "I gave him the weapon you requested. He should be out practicing with it." D explained, eating another piece of cut meat.

He sighed. "Didn't I tell ya ta give it ta me? I wanted ta make sure the kid doesn't cut off his own head when practin' with it." Of course he was exaggerating, the kid just seemed to have an aptitude with just about any weapon he got his hands on. Swords, spears, staves, heck, even bows seemed to come natural to the kid. The past month he had been hard-pressed to look for something to teach the kid aside from training his body to be faster and stronger.

"I would think that wasn't a problem. And that wasn't why you wanted to make sure you yourself gave it to him." D spoke plainly, eating another piece of meat before pointing the fork he had in his hands at him. "Be serious, do you honestly think he had any chance to hurt himself with that thing?"

"'Course not." He admitted immediately. "The only reason I wanted ta give it to the kid in the first place is cause I wanted ta make sure he made his own style."

D's mouth twisted into a frown. "What the kid does, it's not natural." He sighed, this wasn't the subject he wanted to approach at all. "All the weapons he was given, all the moves that he demonstrated when holding them, they shouldn't be possible."

"I know." He said truthfully. It wasn't every day you saw a kid demonstrate a technique that was meant for a person twice his size with a sword that was just as large. In fact, it wasn't everyday you saw a kid _wield_ a sword that big without falling over. "That's why I wanted ta make sure that my hypothesis is correct."

At his words, D's frown turned into a smile. "Your wife has influenced you." The mercenary said matter-of-factly.

He shook his head at the man's tone. "What can I do? The woman can be damn persuasive when she wanted to be, especially to anything related ta somethin' scholarly." He then sighed. "Okay, all that aside though, I gotta talk to the kid. He gon' and pissed Bullet off somethin' fierce, gotta make sure the kid sees and understands that."

At his words, D stopped cutting his food to look at him with an incredulous look. "Ragna actually managed to say something to upset Bullet?" D asked, surprise evident in his voice.

He nodded his head. "Said something about Kokonoe that shot too close ta home I reckon, made lil' Bullet think about her relationship with Kokonoe and why she was so loyal."

D put down the utensils in his hands, before he massaged the bridge of his nose. "I shouldn't have even asked help from that woman. No matter how abrasive and conniving she is, she has this weird charisma that draws in people to her."

He smiled at his friend's words. "Careful now, Kokonoe and me ain't got that good a relationship, but she's still my daughter. What ya said coulda been taken as an insult." He watched as D dropped his hands from his forehead, before leveling him with a flat look.

"Take it as both a compliment and an insult. Honestly, I'd think she'd like it either way." D said flatly. He shrugged his shoulders in reply. He knew Kokonoe would like it, but that didn't mean she wouldn't do anything about it.

"Anyway," He began, making D look up at him. "I know ya probably don't see it, but I can tell that Bullet and Ragna have a relationship with each other. Not to say it's a good one, but I reckon they like each other enough that they're probably pseudo-friends or somethin'." He explained, before he let out a sigh. "So is it too much to ask for ya ta talk to Bullet? Tried talkin' to her, but she's still in a funk. Reckon she'd listen to ya, seeing as yer the closest thing to Tager or Kokonoe in this camp right now."

D regarded him with unblinking eyes, before he saw the man sigh and nod his head. "I'll see to it that Bullet doesn't hold a grudge." He made to thank the man ,but was stopped as D shook his head. "Honestly, I should thank Ragna. He has the courage to say things as they are and not beat around the bush. If anything, Bullet needs that much more than comfort." D then sighed. "But for you friend, I'd gladly do it. Just… make sure to help Bullet. She's… well, she's close to just going off a cliff. If you know what I mean by that."

Oh he knew. He knew exactly what D meant. And that was the reason he had asked D to talk to Bullet. "Believe me when I say I do." D had no idea just how close he got to figuring out his own problems with Ragna. "But you got an advantage." He said, which caused D to look at him in confusion.

"And what would that be friend?" D asked, eyebrows raised and face scrunched.

He laughed, before he leapt off the chair and made his way out of the tent. "Ya got Kokonoe, Tager, yourself, and the whole camp ta look after Bullet."

And all Ragna got was an old cat. Poor kid.

 **XxX**

This thing was awesome!

Swinging it wasn't a problem, in fact, every time he did and hit a tree, it practically bisected the thing. He had felled a total of seven trees already, and he _knew_ the blade wasn't getting dulled. At least, not yet.

Twirling the base behind his back, he took another swing at another tree, but stopped just a few inches from hitting it. And it was totally controllable too! He could stop it mid-swing!

Practically, he knew that using a scythe in battle wasn't the best thing to do, and that he shouldn't possibly have any reason being able to control the thing like an expert would, but he didn't care, the thing was awesome!

He steadied himself, before he threw the thing upwards, making it spin end over end until it cleared the tops of the trees. He smirked, before he ran up the tree in front of him, and bounded over the tops himself. He managed to meet his scythe mid-way, before he spun in the air, taking a giant swipe with his scythe as he did so.

Fucking. Awesome.

Soon enough, gravity took over, and he realized he had another opportunity. He took aim at the tree he had used to jump off of, and readied the scythe above his head. He swung down as the tree got within striking distance, and heard the satisfying sound of wood splitting. His feet landed on the grass, and he looked up at his handiwork

He whistled as he swung the scythe and hung it over his shoulder. Damn, he had split the tree in two. The cut was clean; making it look like the tree had, for all intents and purposes, divide into two.

He held the scythe in front of him, and smiled. Did he mention how awesome this was?

"Oh my," A familiar and haughty voice spoke up. His smile turned into a frown, and his good mood suddenly dissipated into the air. "You look like a child who had gotten a new toy. I would presume that was a good thing, but that is hardly a toy, and that smile hardly bodes well for innocents."

He felt his eyebrow twitch at her words. Was she really implying that? Of all the damn things she could say, she took a jab at his damn morality?

"What the hell Rabbit!" He shouted as he swung around to stare at the gothic girl that had appeared. He saw that she wasn't alone, and her plushie cat-chair and bat companion was right by her side as she sipped tea from a teacup. "I'm not some psycho mass murderer! The sister taught me better than that, and Jubei would kill me if I ever did become like that."

Rachel just raised a dainty eyebrow at him. "And I am to believe that you can be taught?" Her tone was serious, and her eyes held nothing but disbelief. "You who has so callously destroyed flora where certain fauna live their lives, you who has all the tack and empathy of a cadaver when it deals with relationships, you are naught but an animal if that were the case would it not?"

Okay, he got the first part of her rant. He hadn't exactly thought about the effects his cutting and swinging had on animals and where they lived, but the second part? What the hell?

"The heck are you talking about?" He asked, his eyes narrowed as he glared at Rachel.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at him, and that made him even more annoyed. "Oh dear, it seems that even though you have grown somewhat, you are still horribly lacking in basic human comprehension."

A giggle, and his glare turned towards the bat. "Yeah, you tell'em Princess!" The bat – Gii? – said, voice high pitched that it's laughing sounded like the squealing of a pig.

"Silence." A vindictive smile appeared on his face as Gii was flung towards a tree courtesy of Rachel's backhand. "If I had wanted your opinion on my rebuking of this sad excuse of a man I would have said so. As it stands, your contribution to this conversation isn't of any help."

For the thing's part, Gii only managed to weakly float back towards Rachel, head down and wings flapping almost morosely. "I'm sorry Princess." It said, voice low.

For a second, he didn't know what to say to the weirdness of the situation, before he shook his head. "What the hell, first you scold me and now you give me a comedy show? What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked, staring at Rachel as the girl sipped her tea.

Rachel regarded him with a raised eyebrow, before she shook her head. "Do not mistake this as a show for you. I am merely disciplining a servant that spoke out of turn, not at all thinking about the situation at hand."

His eyebrow twitched. "Oh really? 'Cause from my side of things, it looks like you're trying to show me something through actions. First you tell me about my 'horrible lack of etiquette'," He pitched his voice high as he tried to sound like the Rachel. "And now you're telling me it's not about me? Make up your damn mind!" He berated, annoyed at the roundabout way Rachel was talking about things. He didn't need two cryptic bastards in his life. He already got enough of that from Jubei.

Rachel tilted her head to the side as she put down her teacup on top of the table that had appeared in front of her. Seriously? He didn't even see that appear! "It seems your feeble mind cannot comprehend what it is I am trying to say to you." Again, he felt his eyebrow twitch. Well, it wasn't like he didn't ask for this, but goddamn it couldn't she be at least _nicer_?

He was about to rebuke Rachel, to tell her that he didn't care, but she spoke over him. "What I am telling you, is that your innate lack of tack and manners has hurt someone." Rachel said, eyes staring pointedly at him.

He actually flinched at the accusing eyes she gave him. He managed to recover though, and shook his head. "The hell are you talking about?" He asked. "I don't think I've hurt anybody. And besides, why should I care?" He crossed his arms over his chest. Annoyed at Rachel's accusations of hurting someone.

Rachel gave him an exasperated look, before she shook her head. "Oh dear, it seems that you've grown apathetic to those around you. Has _that_ event really affected you so much?"

He scowled, before a growl escaped his lips. "The fuck Rabbit?" He stared at Rachel accusingly. "What do you know about it? You know damn well that I talk like this to everybody and I don't give a damn about what anyone else thinks." He defended himself, annoyed and more than a little miffed at Rachel's words.

Rachel however, only shook her head. "Oh my, it seems that the event has really gilded you." Rachel said. But before the annoying rabbit could say anything else, a rustling in the leaves told them that someone else had entered the vicinity.

"Give it up Rachel," He turned his head, and saw Jubei walk out of the bushes, eye closed and appearing as if in deep thought. "Ya can't expect Ragna ta just know about his problems and fix'em. At least, not without anyone helpin'im." Jubei explained, eye opening to stare at Rachel.

He heard a breath from Rachel, which could have been her high and mighty equivalent of a snort, before she spoke up again. "I was merely trying to elicit his innate personality." Rachel explained. "If he continues down the path his thoughts take him too, I fear that even your teaching may not be enough."

The hell? They were talking about him like he wasn't even there again! Goddamn it was getting annoying.

Before he could say anything, to rebuke Rachel and Jubei, Jubei spoke up. "Ya can't force it out of 'em. He's gotta take it in his own pace. If ya try and accelerate the process, ya may end up with somethin' else than what ya wanted." Jubei sighed before the cat shook his head. "Trust me on this Rachel. Or at least, trust me more."

His eyes turned towards Rachel, and for a second, he thought he saw doubt in her eyes, but the second passed and soon, she was back to her haughty self. "Very well." Rachel nodded her head. "Forgive me Jubei. It seems I have done you a disservice in my actions. I hadn't meant to imply I didn't trust you."

Why the hell was she so respectful to Jubei and then treated him like shit?

He heard Jubei chuckle, before he saw the cat shake his head. "No worries Rachel," Jubei reassured. He then saw Jubei turn back to him, with a indiscernible look on his face. "Now, I gotta take care of a certain lousy student ah mine that can't ever seem ta shut 'is trap."

Despite the words and the undertone of warning in Jubei's voice, he still found himself retorting. "Hey! I ain't got time to-"

He stopped talking as he felt cold steel pressed against his throat. He looked down, and saw Jubei looking at him with narrowed eye and sword drawn. He hadn't… He hadn't even seen him move. Was he that damn slow compared to Jubei? Even with all his training to get faster? He ignored the images that popped into his head when he saw Jubei's sword, and quickly focused on the situation at hand.

"The fuck-" He tried to speak, but the sword digging into his skin and drawing blood told him to keep his mouth shut.

"Keep yer trap shut." Jubei ordered, voice devoid of emotion as the cat stared at him. Despite the height difference between them, it still felt like Jubei was the one that was looking down at him. "Unless ya got somethin' ta say other than curses and insults that is."

Despite himself, he felt himself growl. "The hell old man?" He began, reading his body. "You expect me to put a filter on? I ain't got time for shit like that!" And with that said, he leaned backwards before swinging the scythe he still had in his hands towards Jubei.

Expectedly, he saw Jubei retract the sword to block his scythe. But despite that, he felt another sword appear at his throat. Again he looked down, and saw Jubei not only blocking the scythe with a sword with one hand, but saw Jubei holding an _exact_ replica of the same sword in his other hand and pointed at his throat.

No… It wasn't an exact replica… it was the same damn sword. Images of the sword flashed in his mind, and he recognized that despite it being split into two, they both held the same exact memories of each other.

"Kid," Jubei's cold voice sounded, and he was forced to acknowledge his master. The look in Jubei's eyes told him to not do anything stupid anymore. "You try anything like that again, and I guarantee yer gonna lose more than an arm."

Wisely, he kept his mouth shut despite his instincts to curse.

"Now, I'm gonna give ya a lesson." Jubei began, lowering both swords in his hand. This allowed him to lower his own weapon, but he didn't dare relax, not when Jubei was like this. He watched as Jubei sheathed the sword in his right hand, before pointing the left one at his chest in a challenge. "Make sure ya listen and listen well, 'cause this lesson ain't gonna finish until it gets through yer thick skull."

He swallowed a lump in his throat. Not because of the unspoken anger Jubei had in his words, not because of Jubei's narrowed eye at him, but because of the aura Jubei was giving off.

He felt small compared to it, and the longer he stared at Jubei, the more his face morphed into a dark, almost unrecognizable shadow. The sheer pressure Jubei was giving off told him that if he made a misstep, he would die.

Was this what it felt like fighting one of the six heroes?

And just like that, Jubei disappeared from his sight again. And only a second later did he figure out he was flying, his feet had left the ground and that his stomach felt like it was hit by a tree trunk flying at obscene speeds.

"Guhk-!" Was all he managed to gurgle before he felt his back collide with a tree… and then go through it and continue flying. But even then, it didn't stop, no, he went through three more trees, before he finally stopped on the fifth one, leaving a sizable dent on the trunk.

He slid down, and only when he landed on the ground on his head did he realized that his back, chest, and head hurt. It didn't take a doctor to figure out that most of his ribs were broken, his spine was probably mangled, and he probably had a concussion, judging from the number of bipedal cats he was seeing.

Dropping to the ground, he pushed against it, trying to stand. He managed if only barely, before he used the tree he stopped on as a crutch to help him remain standing. Damn, Jubei wasn't fucking around. It'd take weeks for him to properly heal, even with his more than abnormal healing factor thanks to the Azure Grimoire.

"If yer thinkin' I'm letting ya catch yer breath," Jubei's voice was next to his ear, and he barely had enough time to register that Jubei wasn't in front of him anymore before he felt cold steel press against the side of his neck. "Ya got another thing comin'."

He didn't dare move his head, lest the blade of Musashi bite into his skin, but he still grit his teeth. More out of confusion than anger. "The fuck do you want from me? Why'd you turn all psycho-asshat all of a sudden?"

"'What do I want from ya' ya say?" Jubei repeated the question, shrugging his shoulders which in turn, caused the blade of Musashi to dig deeper into his skin. "Nothin' really, just wanna clear out trash."

That did it.

Clicking his teeth, he leaned backwards, before pushing his right foot forward to kick the abnormal cat from the ground. The action hurt his body like hell, but at least he mana-

"Don't drop yer foot," The words were a warning, and he found himself listening to them. He kept his right foot in the air, despite the fact that Jubei was on top of it with Musashi never having left the spot on his neck. Nervously, he swallowed, and kept his eyes on Jubei as he watched the cat sigh.

"Good, at least ya still listen well." Jubei then shook his head. "Was afraid ya were turning like him."

He raised an eyebrow. "The hell are you talking about old man? Turn out like who?"

Jubei gave him a look that asked him if he was stupid, before he saw the old cat shake his head. "Was talkin' about Terumi kid."

He had to blink before he realized what exactly Jubei meant by that. When it did register, he felt his face go red and his anger boil over. "The hell!" He shouted, wanting so much to strangle Jubei. "Why the fuck would you think that bastard and me are the same!"

Jubei however, was unfazed by his outburst. Instead, the old cat merely took out his other paw, before digging into ear as if there was something stuck in it. "Well gee, can ya blame me? Ya go and say heartless stuff one after another, ya got a bad temper and ya swear a lot. If ya had green hair and used knives, well, I'd be too stupid not to take yer head."

His leg was numbing staying in the air for so long, but he didn't care. No, the only thing on his mind was Jubei's words. "What the he-"

"Think kid," Jubei spoke over him, taking the claw he had used to dig into his ear to tap on the side of his head. "What makes ya different from Terumi? Seriously different, because as it stands now, the parallels are there, and they're scary strong."

"The hell-" Again he attempted to speak, but Jubei cut him off by shaking his head.

"I know ya ain't this dense kid, prove me right." The words were phrased like a sermon, but there was an order in them.

He felt his jaw clench, before he closed his eyes and focused. Alright, what the fuck did he do to piss off Jubei? The only thing he could think of was when he was talking to Bullet after this morning's training session.

"Did it have anything to do with what I said to Bullet?" He probed as he opened one eye. He saw Jubei nod his head in confirmation. He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Seriously?" He was unable to mask his incredulity. "That's what's got you out for my head? I say one stupid thing that's true, and you go and hit me and break my fucking bones!?" His voice was rising, but he didn't care. What the hell was wrong with Jubei? Did he expect him to lie?

"Kid, think long and hard." Jubei once again warned him, and he was forced to close his mouth as Jubei tapped the side of his leg with Musashi. "Ya got a good head on yer shoulders. All ya gotta figure out is what ya did wrong."

"I _didn't_ do anything wrong!" He countered. "You can't expect me to just lie about shit like that! If I did I'd be no better than Terumi!"

"That's where yer wrong kid," Jubei's immediate rebuttal made him flinch. "Terumi's a lot of things, but a liar? Now that just ain't his way." Now he was confused, Terumi wasn't a liar?

"Now that's to say he ain't a rat bastard," Jubei continued, finally dropping down from his leg and onto the grass, allowing him to finally put some weight on his throbbing leg. "But ya gotta realize where I'm going with this." Jubei turned around and stared at him, raising Musashi so that it pointed straight at his face. "What ya did, that's somethin' Terumi woulda done."

Though the blade was the immediate danger, his eyes focused onto Jubei. "What?" His voice came out quieter than he was liked it to be.

Jubei nodded his head, further sending his thought into a spiral. "Terumi is a guy that'll take everything you believe in, and show ya the harsh reality of it. He's gonna take pleasure in ya seeing the truth, and when the truth breaks ya, well, that's when he'll kill ya. When yer in despair."

He looked down, Jubei's words sinking in. "I… I'm not like that." He said softly, unsure if his words were to reassure Jubei or him.

"Which is why yer better than Terumi." He looked up, and saw Jubei sheathing Musashi behind his back. "At least, now that I managed ta beat it into yer head." Despite the solemn mood, Jubei didn't seem affected as the old cat grinned at him. "Yer better than Terumi, because ya allow yerself to feel regret. That's somethin' that Terumi'll never have. The humanity of empathy."

"Ragna, what ya said to Bullet today, it may have all been true. Heck, even if Kokonoe's my daughter, I know for a fact that she's not the best person there is." Jubei stared up at him. He looked away as Jubei's lone eye locked with his own pair. "But that don't mean that it was the best thing ta say. Ya don't exactly know her do ya?"

He didn't answer, instead, he continued to look anywhere but his master.

He heard Jubei sigh, and this finally made him turn towards the old cat. "We've been here a month Ragna. Tell me, aside from D and Bullet, who do you know in the camp?"

He was about to answer, but Jubei shook his head. "Names kid. I want names, stories, what they did to get to this camp, what happened to 'em. Don't just tell me stuff like 'that one woman who always cooks.'. That don't count."

He opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again when he realized that nothing was coming to mind. Was he really that out of touch with these people? He didn't know a damn thing about them. Heck, even Bullet wasn't someone he interacted with except on times when both of them were being taught by Jubei.

"…I feel like an ass." He broke the silence, eliciting a chuckle from Jubei. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from the cat, this time, in embarrassment.

"That's because ya are." Jubei stated. He stared at the cat with a raised eyebrow, but before he could retort, Jubei continued. "But that don't mean yer heart ain't in the right place. That sister that raised ya, she raised ya well. She'd be damn proud ta see you now. I know I am."

He felt heat rise to his face, and his embarrassment doubled. He felt his mouth hang open, before he finally managed one word despite himself. "…Thanks."

Jubei grinned at him, before nodding. "Now, lessons over. Go and take a break." Jubei turned around and waved one arm as he began walking away from him. "And put that thing somewhere where ya won't poke yer eyes out."

He realized he was still holding the scythe given to him, before he shook his head and let out a small chuckle.

"Oh my, am I perhaps seeing you maturing?" He was broken out of his thoughts as he was suddenly reminded that it wasn't just him and Jubei there.

"What the fuck!" He shouted, slightly startled at seeing Rachel still there, sipping tea while sitting on her fat stuffed cat. "I thought you left already!" He accused.

Rachel merely raised one eyebrow, looking prim and proper despite the fact that her eyes held contempt in them. "And what made you think that? I had come over merely to observe you. And had you gone over the path ordained, then I would have simply eliminated you right here and now. Heaven knows what kind of thoughts goes through your head."

He felt like growling at her, felt like saying biting words. But he stopped himself at the last second.

He thought hard on what Rachel said, and realized that despite her words, she was still looking out for him. Heck, if Jubei hadn't knocked some sense into him, then Rachel probably would have.

At least, that was why he thought Rachel was here in the first place.

"Hey Rachel." He called, scratching the back of his head as he did so. He looked towards Rachel, and saw her giving him a raised eyebrow in question. "….Thanks." He said as he looked away from the blonde.

He couldn't tell, but he might have heard Rachel take a breath. And for a second, he thought she was flattered, or at least, something close to flustered.

That thought flew out the window the moment she opened her mouth again.

"It seems that Jubei has indeed 'beat some sense into you.'" Rachel began, causing him to turn towards him. "I've no idea whether to thank him for that, or be scared of my own chastity. I perhaps may have liked you more the way you were previous, that way, you need not look at me with such mature, and perverted eyes."

He took a breath to calm himself, and when that didn't work, he took another. Still it didn't work, and despite the talk he had with Jubei, he couldn't stop himself. "Hell no! Who would want someone like a decrepit old snarky bitch like you? You may look like a little girl, but god damn is your mouth as foul as a thousand year old mummy's!" He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Rachel. The fuck was she on? He thanks her, and she verbally abuses him?

"Watch it what you say to the princess you stup-" Gii began flying towards him again, but was caught by the wings by Rachel. Who immediately threw it over her shoulders causing it to hit a tree.

"Gii, what have I said about my thoughts on you defending me?" Rachel asked, not at all caring that she threw her familiar at such force that it dented the tree it landed on.

"Ow…" Gii said from its position, before it floated up and towards Rachel. "That you can defend yourself." The amount of guilt that came from Gii's voice was surprising, even for him.

Damn had Rachel whipped her servants that hard?

He looked back towards Rachel, and saw her sipping her tea quietly. She finally put down the tea, before she stared at him. "I had not meant to insult you. Merely stating facts like I see it."

He narrowed his eyes, not out of anger, but from confusion. "So you're saying we're both like Terumi?" He asked, not sure why Rachel would say something like that.

Rachel however, shook her head. "What I'm saying, is that despite ourselves, we all speak the truth. No matter how harsh, and no matter how painful they may be. Despite the fact that you are a crass and barbaric individual, and that Terumi is a degenerate that seeks nothing more than chaos and destruction, and that I, someone who has lived past millennia, have all been raised properly. To always speak the truth."

Okay… where was she going with this?

Rachel sighed, probably detecting his confusion from the look on his face. "To speak plainly. Despite our upbringing, we are still individuals with differing thoughts."

"The hell?" He said, incredulous at the amount of words Rachel spewed. "Why didn't you say that in the first place? You didn't have to go on that whole spiel about how we were all raised well."

Rachel, instead of replying to him in a snarky manner as she was liable to, only gave him a small smile. "Oh? Are you perhaps admitting your mistakes? Dear me, perhaps you are growing."

Despite the insult, he smiled back at her, before shaking his head and turning around, walking away from her as he did so. Before he left the vicinity however, he turned his head slightly towards Rachel. "Hey Rachel." He spoke up, not bothering to look at the vampire.

"Hmm?" He heard her say, before he heard her taking a sip of her tea. Seriously? She still wasn't taking him seriously?

Ah whatever. "Thank you." He said sincerely, renewing his walk towards the camp, not bothering waiting a reply that would come from Rachel.

As he began walking, he wondered if he could get D to look after the scythe for awhile. At least, until he came to pick it up after he talked to Bullet again.

…On second thought, maybe he should hold onto it when he did talk to her. Just as a means to defend himself.

 **XxX**

He had asked D if the man saw Bullet, but D had only responded with a shake of his head, before saying 'Bullet is good girl, but still only girl. Likely she is out in perimeter smashing trees.'

He had a strange feeling that something the man said was wrong, but couldn't quite place his finger on it. So he decided to ignore it instead.

So with D's words in his head, he scouted the perimeter of the camp, looking for signs of where Bullet was. Sure enough, he found trees split in two, trees uprooted, heck; he even found trees thrown into each other. And Rachel was going on about him destroying trees? She should have went to Bullet if that was the case.

Still… Maybe it was his fault. Hell, he'd been the one to put her in the 'destroy everything' kind of mood to begin with.

A loud bang sounded, and he hurried over towards the source of it. It didn't take him more than ten paces before he found who it was that caused it.

He found Bullet. On the ground face up, breathing heavily with pieces of a broken tree scattered all around her. He took a second to further analyze Bullet's surroundings, before he realized that Bullet had done a number on the place around her.

Trees were split in two around her, some were uprooted, one tree even had another one stuck into it! He realized then that Bullet had probably used one tree as a baseball bat, before she swung it at the rooted one, intertwining both in splinters and wood. Maybe that was the cause of the bang he heard?

He shook his head, now wasn't the time to be thinking of that. Cautiously, he approached the girl lying on the ground. He tried to be as stealthy as possible, but realized that doing so would be next to impossible with the number of broken trees and scattered wood all around.

Sighing to himself, he decided he should just bite the bullet and just approach her like he normally would.

"Hey." He said as he walked over towards Bullet. He didn't get a chance to take two steps towards her, before he had to duck as Bullet swiped a piece of wood from the ground and chucked it straight at his face. "Whoa!"

The wood grazed the top of his head, brushing in between his hair, before he heard it collide with another tree behind him. He looked behind, and saw a distinct mark where the piece of wood had collided with the tree, before shaking his head and looking back towards Bullet, readying himself with the scythe he still had in his hands. "The fuck was that for? Didn't take you for the kind to get surprised so easily."

Despite his beating heart, he managed to stay calm enough not to shout. He didn't need a repeat of Bullet throwing those things. He didn't want to bet on how long he could dodge Bullet chucking pieces of wood at him before he got himself impaled, nor was he convinced that he could split trunks of trees with just his scythe.

Bullet didn't say anything and instead, continued breathing heavily as she glared at him. Finally, after taking a few seconds to compose herself, she let out one last heavy breath, before she spoke up. "What do you want?" She said, her tone cross as she continued glaring at him.

He sighed before scratching the back of his head. "Look, I know I said some stuff that you don't really agree with, and I'm not taking those words back." He made it clear that he didn't regret the words he spoke, for they were at least truthful. But… "But I wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things in the first place. It's not really-"

"Save it." He blinked as Bullet interrupted him. He looked towards her, and saw her sitting with her back turned towards him. He scowled.

"The hell?" He began as he walked forward. Anger overwriting the guilt he had previously. "I was gonna apologize, and you just tell me to save it?" The hell was wrong with this girl? Was she dropped on the head one too many times?

"I don't need your pity. I don't even want it in the first place." Bullet said, her back still turned towards him. He felt himself bristle, but before he could say anything, Bullet continued. "If all you've got to say is 'sorry', then you can go put your head back in your ass."

That did it. Any semblance of regret he held for hurting her feelings went out the window. He took an angry step forward, but before he could do or say anything, a weight suddenly appeared on his shoulder.

"Now that's just plain cold Bullet." He looked towards his right shoulder, only to see Jubei standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. He could see Bullet turning towards Jubei, but before she could respond, Jubei jumped off his shoulder and landed in between them.

Jubei took a look at him, before looking towards Bullet. He relaxed a bit, before he saw Jubei shake his head. "Here we have someone willing to say they're sorry, willing to say they were in the wrong, and all ya got ta say is that? What happened to common decency?"

Bullet turned her glare over towards Jubei. "Why should I show decency when he didn't?" It was obvious the words were directed towards him, and he felt the grip on his scythe tighten. She did have a point there…

From the corner of his vision, he saw Jubei scratch the back of his head, before sighing and shaking his head. "Ahh geez." He saw Jubei turn towards him, and focused on his master. "Looks like it'll take a whole lot more than a sorry to convince her you're sincere."

He scowled. "What do you mean by that?"

Jubei shrugged his shoulders at him. "It's obvious a sorry won't cut it, at least, not fer Bullet. And the more ya apologize, the more incline ya are ta just spout that mouth of yours with every obscenity you know."

He felt his face heat up at Jubei's words. Again, what Jubei said wasn't exactly untrue… But screw that. "If she doesn't want to accept my apology, that's her problem, not mine. She doesn't want to believe I feel like shit for what I said? I don't care, I said my piece." He crossed his arms over his chest, the scythe ramrod straight by his side.

Jubei stared at him for a second, and in that second, he could see a hint of… mischief in Jubei's eye. But before he could say anything about it, he saw Jubei duck his head in a bow, a hint of a smile on his feline face as he did so. "If ya really feel that way…" Jubei trailed.

A whizzing sound, and suddenly a light stinging sensation spread from his neck.

He reached towards it, and felt something embedded into his neck. He pulled it out, and put it in front of his eyes. He barely had a second to recognize it before he felt himself getting whoozy. "God… fucking… damn i-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as he fell face first into the dirt and blacked out.

 **XxX**

A hill overlooking a wasteland of swords. A bright yellow sun that scorched the skin. Uncountable number of swords surrounded the hill.

This was wrong… He felt wrong. He wasn't supposed to be here, he could feel it in his soul, could feel it permeating his entire being. He felt like a thief intruding upon a family dinner, a traitor about to kill everyone he once knew and laughed with.

A ringing in his head, and the bright yellow sun was blotched by a humongous black beast.

He stared up at it, at its eight contorted heads. He watched as it devoured the sun, and then the sky, before it began to devour the sandy wasteland and all its swords.

The black beast kept eating and eating, its eight heads swallowing vast expanses of not just the sky, but also the ground he stood upon.

But no matter how much it ate, not matter how much it devoured, it couldn't reach the hill. It couldn't reach all the swords. It couldn't reach him.

And then, as if responding to a call, all the swords began to shiver. Beginning to shake from their tombstone-like poise as if the dead were clawing their way through the ground.

As one, all the swords rose, sabers, knives, zweihanders, rapiers, cutlasses. All rose to the sky. But as he took a second look, he realized that it wasn't just limited to swords. Spears, lances, hammers even, every conceivable weapon rose from the ground and into the sky, blanketing the twilight sky by sheer number alone. The weapons… they were simply infinite.

All the weapons shuddered, eliciting a sound of metal scraping against metal, and it was only then he saw the figure.

He was clad in nothing but black armor and black slacks, his toned and tanned arms by his side, his white hair with fringes of red seemingly whipping as the winds picked up all around. He didn't know who this figure was, he didn't know why he appeared now of all times, but he knew that the moment he saw him, that this world, this **Infinite Wasteland of Blades**. It was his.

The man raised one arm, and all the weapons in the air stilled. It was as if the man himself commanded them.

And with swift drop of his arm, all the weapons that blanketed the sky, every single one, surged forward towards the black beast.

Suddenly, the black beast seemed so small.

 **XxX**

He awoke with a start, sitting up as he clutched his head.

That was… that was some dream.

He had had dreams like that before. Over the past month, he had been plagued by the same setting, the same place. An infinite wasteland of swords, that was what he called that place. There wasn't really anything better to describe it with anyway.

His dreams always seemed to be in there now. And almost every dream all he did was sit on a hill, overlooking the wasteland, counting the number of swords he could see with just his eyes.

Of course it hadn't always been like that. A month ago, the wasteland barely had anything in it. Only a handful of swords that included Jin's, Jubei's, and a couple of others. Heck, even Terumi's balisong knife was there. And for awhile, that was the extent of it. With a couple of swords here and there.

But as the month went on, the wasteland… expanded. More swords, more ground he could see over the horizon, even the twilight sky itself seemed to grow.

But… today was the first time he saw a black figure over the horizon that blotched the sun. And it was also the first time he saw a figure of a man.

He shook his head, now probably wasn't the time to think about this. He had to talk with Jubei and tell him that his dream just evol- Jubei!

He looked to his left, and then to his right, but all he could see was thick vegetation, no sign of his master anywhere.

"Son of a bitch cat!" The sentence he spewed didn't make any sense, but he didn't care. That fucker will get what's coming to him for drugging him and leaving him on the groun-

It was then he noticed the figure right next to him, and he realized that he wasn't the only person that had been drugged.

Bullet was right next to him, her sleeping form looked so peaceful and serene that had he not known her, he would have mistaken her for an innocent girl.

He shook his head at the thought. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about crap like that. He had to find Jubei.

Looking around for his scythe, he quickly found it lying by Bullet's back. Carefully picking it up so that he didn't hit the woman next to it, he made to stand and walk away, intent on leaving the girl here to look for his teacher. But he couldn't even take one step as he felt a weight on his right ankle.

Closing his eyes as he breathed deep, he hoped to whatever god there was that wasn't what he thought it was.

Slowly opening his eyes and looking towards his right ankle, he realized that if there was a god, it definitely hated him. Either that, or Jubei had a fucked up sense of humor.

Sighing to himself, he sat back down, allowing the metal to jingle at his ankle again. He wouldn't be going anywhere soon, at least, not until the person he was shackled to woke up.

God damn it Jubei.

 **XxX**

 **Shin. Megami. Tensei. IV.**

 **Just… fuck. I can't put it down, and it's affecting my ability to write. Someone, take away my 2ds! Do it before I finish SMT IV and start playing FE:F. Do it! If not for me then for my rotting stories!**

 **Joking aside, I will admit that the only reason I haven't been updating regularly is because of video games. It's summer where I am, and I'm making the most of it by sleeping, playing games, and writing. All in that order.**

 **Also, some the readers may notice that I'm updating stories in a pattern. Namely from top to bottom. So yeah, next up the chopping block would either be Mechanized Magus and/or A Magi's Tale. The last one would be Fate: Zero/Night. I'm not going past Fate: Zero/Night, at least, not until I have all those bottom rung stories updated with my current mindset. I apologize for those readers that read every story I write, and expect updates from some stories I haven't updated for a** _ **long**_ **time. I can only ask for your patience in the matter.**

 **All that aside, I'm writing a character study story for FMA. Which in turn, will crossover with Akame ga Kill. Now before some of my readers pick up their pitchforks and torches and start calling me a hypocritical liar, I will tell them that the hypocritical part is correct, but now the liar part.**

 **I am not a fan of Akame ga Kill. I've made mention of that in A Gaming Magus' third chapter. But that doesn't stop me from writing a fanfiction of it. Rest assured, I'm not gonna go 'Everyone in this story is bad and therefore I must bash everyone!' spree with it. I hate bashing, so don't expect me to write stories that bash certain characters that I dislike. I will however, write a story that is as close to canon and the character's canon personalities as possible. Now that is to say I won't make mistakes or take a few liberties, but I am only human. And that means that despite everything I do, I still make mistakes. Some of them you've probably read already in this latest chapter of this story. If not from slight OOC'ness, then certainly from typos and wrong grammar.**

 **That aside, I assure my readers, I will not desensitize their love/like of Akame ga Kill with this story. Not like it'll be too troublesome though. As this story is a three-shot focusing on characters from FMA reacting to different factions in Akame ga Kill.**

 **So… aside from that piece of news that had no basis being in this AN, this chapter marks the start of the 'Tied Together' story arc for this story. I'm excited to write about it, and I hope my readers are as excited for the next developments that will happen. More character development, and more growth not just for Ragna, but also for Bullet. That is the focus on this arc. Why Bullet though and not just have Ragna grow by himself with Jubei? Because it fits where the story is heading. Yeah, that's the only reason… I'm kidding of course. But then again, how can you people tell?**

 **C.O.Y.L out, peace!**

 **Also, unedited glory! Shin Megami Tensei IV forever! Whooo!**

 **Seriously though, will get to editing in a while. Just... Need... More demons.**


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